death_date death_place work_institution birth_place nationality field birth_date known_for image article_title name alma_mater
14 july 1932 ljubljana , kingdom of yugoslavia '' of ljubljana hochschüle für bodenkultur '' university of zagreb university Škofja loka , austria-hungary slovene botany , plant physiology , plant genetics 14 march 1875 plant genetics , nature conservation efforts fran jesenko -lrb- 1875-1932 -rrb- . jpg fran jesenko
 fran jesenko university of vienna
fran jesenko

fran jesenko -lrb- march 14 , 1875 -- july 14 , 1932 -rrb- was a slovenian botanist and plant geneticist who became notable for his work on the hybridisation of wheat and rye .
after attending high school in ljubljana , jesenko enrolled in the university of vienna and graduated in 1902 .
during his studies , he became a tutor to two oriental princes at vienna 's teresianum college for boys , later also serving in this capacity for count merveldt .
his position gave him the opportunity to travel all across europe and later to egypt , where he studied desert flora .
in 1909 , he became a research assistant under erich von tschermak at the college of agriculture -lrb- `` hochschule für bodenkultur '' ; now university of natural resources and life sciences -rrb- in vienna , and a lecturer in 1913 .
during his period in vienna , jesenko commenced several studies on plant hybridisation under von tschermak 's supervision , obtaining fertile hybrids between different varieties of wheat and rye with the help of backcrossing , and studying their characteristics with reference to mendelian principles .
he proposed that the reduced fertility of hybrids was a consequence of chromosomal incompatibility , as well as morphological differences .
with this , he was one of the pioneers of studies on triticale and intergeneric hybrids in general .
his work was interrupted by world war i , during which jesenko was sent to the eastern front , where he was injured and imprisoned .
after the war , he returned to his homeland to become a lecturer at the university of zagreb -lrb- croatia -rrb- , and a full professor in 1920 .
in the meantime , he worked on setting up a botanical institute in ljubljana and in 1921 became the first professor of botany at the recently established university of ljubljana .
he also continued his studies on plant hybrids and helped found a research station in beltinci .
in addition to plant genetics , jesenko was notable as one of the proponents of triglav national park , the only national park in slovenia today and one of the earliest in europe .
in 1924 , the alpine conservation park was founded , and jesenko demarcated part of its borders with his students .
he used to spend summers there , studying alpine flora with students and contributing to the area 's permanent legal protection , which was only secured in 1981 , long after jesenko 's death .
he died in the summer of 1932 after a mountaineering accident on the komarča rock face while doing his studies there .
with a broken back , he was transferred to a hospital in ljubljana , where he died on 14 july .
the award given by the biotechnical faculty since 1972 is named in his honor -lrb- -rrb- , as are a street in ljubljana and the jesenko trail on rožnik hill .
