Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian (Russian: Армен Леонович Тахтаджян; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan or Takhtadzhian) (June 10, 1910 - November 13, 2009), was a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. His other interests included morphology of flowering plants, paleobotany, and the flora of the Caucasus. (Wikipedia entry)I had the privilege of meeting Professor Takhtajan once. He was kind, generous, and extraordinarily knowledgeable. His phylogenetic system has been largely superseded by work of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, but his influence will never be forgotten. He died on 13 November, and he will be buried in the Armenian part of the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg tomorrow after a civil funeral at the Komarov Botanical Institute.
Armen Takhtajan (1910-2009)
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Hai,
Its not true that professors system is superseded by the APGII system,in his latest work,: Flowering Plants "he integrates the results of APGII with his own ideas.
Best Regards,
Marco
Fair enough. "Superseded" may have been too strong, but I think it is fair to say that Takhtajan's ideas are no longer as influential and important as they once were.
He was important, and always will be!
Rest in piece
With his wife Alice, he spent many happy and productive months as a guest researcher at Missouri Botanical Garden, the New York Botanical Garden (with his great friend Arthur Cronquist), and the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai working on his publications.
May his soul rest in Peace!
Thanks,
Rocky Nasha.
Researcher and Author