Helia Bravo Hollis

Helia Bravo Hollis was a botanist who contributed a lot to the study of cacti. She also led and helped create many gardens and an herbarium wing. Her career with plants began in 1919. Bravo Hollis was determined to study biology even though it was not a real career back then. By 1927 she was the first certified biologist in Mexico. She traveled all over the country, and studied many kinds of cacti. From this she collected a lot of information. She used this information to write almost 170 articles. She also wrote two books. These books were called El Interesante Mundo de las Cactáceas and Las Cactáceas de México. Throughout her career, she discovered and recorded over 700 new cacti.

Helia Bravo Hollis was more than a scientist. She was also a professor, a leader, and a creator. In 1929, the university UNAM began to build its biology institute. She helped by creating the Herbarium wing.  An herbarium is a place where plants are stored and studied. After her travels, she became a professor of botany at UNAM in 1956. She taught there for 35 years. She worked hard and made many contributions to botany. Because of this, she received many awards. Several things were also named after her, including two gardens. One of them was the UNAM botanical garden. She helped start this garden and directed it in 1959. Many cacti were named after her as well. Six species and one subspecies were titled in her honor.

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