Hugo von Mohl

Hugo von Mohl never married and dedicated his entire life to scientific pursuits.

He suffered from ill health during his later years which affected his productivity. He died suddenly on 1 April 1872, at the age of 66.

Hugo von Mohl was born on 8 April 1805, in Stuttgart, Germany. His father, Benjamin Ferdinand von Mohl, was a Württemberg statesman. Hugo had three brothers.

Hailing from a reputed family, he received a classical education at the gymnasium. He developed an early interest in botany and mineralogy which he pursued in his leisure time.

In 1823, he entered the University of Tübingen to study medicine and in 1827 presented a work on the structure and movement of the climbing plants. His doctoral thesis in 1828 was on the investigation of the constitution of the pores of plants.

He graduated with distinction in medicine following which he went to Munich where he became involved with a group of prominent botanists and immersed himself in research.

In 1832, he was appointed professor of physiology at Bern, and in 1835, professor of botany at Tübingen. He remained at Tübingen for the rest of his career, focusing on teaching and research.

Totally dedicated to science, he loved conducting experiments in his laboratory. He possessed good manual skills and built his own optical apparatus, including microscopes.

Even though he made notable contributions to several areas of botany, he gained much acclaim for his work on plant cells and on the microscopic anatomy of plants.

During his research on plant cell he hypothesized that the nucleus of the cell was within the granular, colloidal material that made up the main substance of the cell. He named this substance “protoplasm”, a word that had been coined by the Czech physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje with reference to the embryonic material found in eggs.

In 1843, he became one of the founders of the ‘Botanische Zeitung’, one of the most famous periodicals of modern botany. He jointly edited the journal till his death.

Hugo von Mohl made several significant contributions to the study of plant cell. He first described the behavior of the protoplasm in cell division and demonstrated the cellular origin of vessels and of fibrous cells. He also performed important anatomical work on the stems of dicotyledons and gymnosperms.