Name Paul Neergaard Role Author | Books Seed pathology | |
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Died November 13, 1987, Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
Pierre Paul Ferdinand Mourier de Neergaard (Nyborg, February 19, 1907 - Copenhagen, November 13, 1987) was a Danish agronomist and esperantist.
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Paul Neergaard is considered the father of seed pathology and, along with Mary Noble coined the term in the 1940s.
Neergaard served as Director of the Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries in Copenhagen. From 1956 to 1974 he served as the Chairman of the Plant Disease Committee of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). During his tenure as Chair of ISTA, he helped standardize methods for the detection of seed borne fungi.
Neergaard authored a two-volume text entitled "Seed Pathology" (1977), that focused on a wide variety of seed pathology issues, ranging from the economic significance of seedborne diseases to the assessment of seed borne inoculum. It has served as a reference and teaching standard for the science of seed pathology throughout the world.
Neergard was a professor in Universities in Beirut (Lebanon) and Mysore and was a member of several national Academies and international societies.
Paul Neergard was an active promoter of the international language Esperanto. He was a member of the Academy of Esperanto, and published several books in that language, about science and linguistics.