Martín Cárdenas Hermosa (November 12, 1899 – February 14, 1973) was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Martín Cárdenas Hermosa went on to be the most important Botanist in the history of Bolivia and he received the Mary Soper Pope [Medal] Memorial Award in botany. He received his BS (1918) in Biological Sciences from the Instituto Normal Superior Adventista in 1918 and his PhD (1922) in Natural Sciences and Chemistry.
Subsequently he accepted a professorship in Natural Sciences and Chemistry, and later, in 1932, he accepted a position as Director of Natural Sciences at the National College of Potosi. He served in the Chaco War within the Sanitary Corps before returning as President of the Autonomous University of Cochabamba, where he served from 1937 to 1946. He remained at the University as a Professor until his retirement in 1969. He died in 1973, having cataloged 6,500 native species of Bolivian fauna, including the discovery of 180 novel cacti.
REFERENCES:
- https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000001273
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110706150544/http://www.amazonia.bo/amazonia_bo.php?id_contenido=84&opcion=detalle_des
- https://www.historia.com.bo/biografia/martin-cardenas#google_vignette
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