account of the fusion of gametes in the Phycological Trailblazer subaerial alga Trentepohlia umbrina (Wille, No. 40 1878). Wille’s early mentoring was from Nordal Wille several people. Because Wille was the only person then in Norway interested in freshwater algae, he contacted the Swedish (originally printed in the Phycological newsle er. 2014. phycologist Veit Wi rock, and in 1878 Wille Vol. 50 No. 1) went to Stockholm and became Wi rock's student (Stafleu & Cowan, The life story and 1988). Despite a great age accomplishments of the gap, the two developed a Norwegian botanist- solid working rela onship phycologist [Jordan] Nordal and friendship. In 1881 [Fischer] Wille (Fig. 1) (28 Oct. Wille went to 1858 - 4 Feb. 1924) are Copenhagen and studied certainly worth a re-telling. In with Eugenius Warming a tribute to him on the 150th and then in 1882 on to anniversary of his birth, Berlin, where he studied Jørgensen & Vaalund (2008) with Simon Schwendener. called him the "most He also spent me important promoter of botany working with Axel Bly in in Norway in the last century". Oslo. But a er comple ng His contribu ons were his educa on, there was significant mostly in terms of no posi on open in freshwater green algae. But he Norway for him. So also studied other groups of Fig. 1. Nordal Wille. [From the Wi rock offered him a algae including seaweeds, and internet.] posi on (as Regnellian he was very knowledgable of Curator) in Stockholm in flowering plants. Wille’s birth 1883. Wille’s thesis work, was a bit of a surprise for his done at the Biological Sta on in Kris neberg, parents in that his Mother delivered him Sweden, was on the anatomy of algae in when she was 47 years old (Jørgensen & rela on to their func on. He was the first Vaalund, 2008). He had a difficult me person to receive a doctoral degree in botany growing up, afflicted with asthma c (in 1885) from the Royal Frederic University bronchi s and bullied by his fellow students. (later the University of Oslo). He next became But fortunately for him, he found his a deputy professor in Stockholm (in 1886), salva on in the sciences, and it helped that but a serious quarrel with the mathema cian he was very bright. With a deep interest in Gösta Gi ag-Leffler prevented Wille from geology, fossils, and botany, he was invited to achieving full professorship there (Jørgensen par cipate in field trips. In 1878 he earned a & Vaalund, 2008). scholarship to do research on freshwater algae. One of his earliest papers was an