K. M. Matthew

Father Dr. K. M. Matthew
Born16 March 1930 (1930-03-16)
Koyapillil, Ramapuram, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Died16 April 2004 (2004-04-17) (aged 74)
OccupationBotanist
Known forTaxonomical research
Parent(s)Mathai and Teresa
AwardsIndira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar

Koyapillil Mathai Matthew (1930โ€“2004) was an Indian Jesuit priest and botanist.[1][2] He extensively studied the floral diversity of Tamil Nadu, and published several research papers and books.[3] In 1967, he established the Rapinat Herbarium at St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli.[2]

Early life and work

He was born to Teresa and K. O. Mathai of the Koyapillil family on March 16, 1930 in Ramapuram, Kottayam, Kerala, India.[4] Born into a family of farmers he completed his school education at St. Augustine's High School, Ramapuram, initial collage studies at SB College Chegannacherry and moved to Tiruchirapalli for higher studies.[5][6] He did his bachelor's degree in University of Madras, India and completing his M.Sc. degree during 1958-60, he acquired his doctorate (1960โ€“62) on the alien plants of the Palni hills with the guidance of Hermenegild Santapau and he did his Doctor of Philosophy from University of Bombay in 1963.[6] He also did Master of Science in 1973 from University Reading, United Kingdom.

He extensively carried out field work in Tamil Nadu and this effort resulted in a four-volume The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic.[1][7] A total of 2020 species was covered in this work. Another contribution is an illustrated Flora entitled the Flora of the Palani Hills in three volumes.[1] He described four new species, one subspecies, and proposed quite a few new combinations. Strobilanthes matthewiana R.W. Scotland has been published in his honour.[8][9][10][11]

Awards

He was awarded the Best Teacher Award of the Tamil Nadu State Government in 1989,[6] ZWO fellowship of the Dutch Government, Leiden, 1978. He was conferred with the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar for 2002 under the `individual' category posthumously for his outstanding contribution for the environmental protection.[2][5]

Authority name

Publications

  • Mathew, K. M; Rapinat Herbarium (1981). The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic. Rapinat Herbarium. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  • Matthew, K. M (1991). An excursion flora of Central Tamilnadu, India. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. ISBN 978-81-204-0628-5.
  • Matthew, K. M; Matthew, K. M. Illustrations on the flora of the Palni Hills, South India; Matthew, K. M. Supplement to illustrations on the flora of the Palni Hills, South India; Rapinat Herbarium (1999). The flora of the Palni Hills, South India. Rapinat Herbarium. ISBN 978-81-900539-4-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jesuit Contribution to Environmental Protection" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  2. ^ a b c Savarimuthu Ignacimuthu, S.J. (2016). The Contributions of South Asian Jesuits to Environmental Work. journal of jesuit studies 3. 619-644. doi 10.1163/22141332-00304005
  3. ^ "Catalog Search Results | HathiTrust Digital Library".
  4. ^ "Inspiration for the day !". Talent-Kerala. 2004-08-22. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  5. ^ a b "Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Award for Tiruchi botanist". The Hindu. 2004-10-05. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  6. ^ a b c "Shola 2004".
  7. ^ Catalog Record: The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic | Hathi Trust Digital Library. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic series; v. 3. Catalog.hathitrust.org. 1983. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  8. ^ SCOTLAND, R. W. (1998), One new and one rediscovered species of Strobilanthes Blume (Acanthaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 128: 203โ€“210. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1998.tb02116.x,
  9. ^ "World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World". Archived from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  10. ^ "Botanical Survey of India | Flora of India". Efloraindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  11. ^ "IPNI Plant Name Details". Ipni.org. 1987-08-16. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  12. ^ International Plant Names Index.  K.M.Matthew.