Hugo De Vries

Dutch botanist who independently discovered the Mendelian laws of heredity. His best-known books are "Intracellular Pangenesis," 1889, "The Mutation Theory," 1900-03 and "Plant Breeding," 1907.

De Vries attended the University of Leiden, receiving his Ph.D. in 1870. He went on to the University of Heidelberg where he worked with the German plant physiologist, Julius von Sachs. In 1877, he became a professor of botany at the University of Amsterdam, where he continued his research on plant cells. De Vries became increasingly interested in the controversy about plant heredity during the late 1880s and began the hybridization experiments that ultimately led to his confirmation of the laws of heredity presented by Gregor Mendel.

He died on 21 May 1935.