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Dr. Eugene Jablonski (1892-1975)

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Record Group 4
DR. EUGENE JABLONSKI RECORDS (1959-1973)
2.5 linear feet (5 boxes)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Dr. Eugene Jablonski (1892-1975) was a trained geologist and botanist. After a professional career as an oil geologist, he was named Honorary Curator of Tropical Botany in 1960 at The New York Botanical Garden. His field of concentration was the Euphorbiaceae and he reorganized the Garden's collections of Euphorbiaceae, an undertaking that took ten years. He determined the Euphorbiaceae in the reports on The Botany of the Guayana Highland. An expert cartographer, he prepared the maps of the Rock Garden and the Native Plant Garden.

Jablonski received his Ph.D. degree in Botany, Geopaleontology, and Cosmography in 1914 from the University of Budapest. In 1915, he published a monograph of the Bridelieae. He assisted Dr. Ferdinand Pax at the University of Leipzig with the treatment of Euphorbiaceae for Engler's Das Pflanzenreich (1916).

During World War I, Dr. Jablonski was arrested as a spy while doing geological field work. He was drafted into the Austrian Imperial Tyrolean Chasseur Regiment and sent to the Russian front. He was captured and imprisoned by the Russians but he escaped and returned to Hungary. In 1918 he was named to the Hungarian Royal Geological Institute.

In the midst of the Hungarian counter-revolution, Jablonski and his wife escaped to Poland. There he joined the staff of the Galicya Oil Company Czechovice. In 1927 he transferred to the Vacuum Oil Company (a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New York and eventually part of Mobil Oil) and moved to the United States. As a field geologist he traveled extensively. In 1938 he became a citizen of the United States.

Jablonski completed a "Revision of Trigonostemon (Euphorbisceae) of Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo" in 1962. In 1963 he was honored by the University of Budapest with the award of Doctor Honoris Causa. In 1971 he was awarded The New York Botanical Garden's Distinguished Service Award . Dr. Jablonski died on May 24, 1975.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Dr. Eugene Jablonski Records document Dr. Jablonski's service at The New York Botanical Garden, especially his study and reorganization of the Euphorbia. The collection contains correspondence, index cards, records of loans and determinations, and a manuscript. Correspondents include Bassett Maguire, Harold Moldenke, and Julian Steyermark.  It is arranged in six series.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series 1: Euphorbiaceae Determinations, 1964-1973
Series 2: Euphorbiaceae Loans, 1959-1969
Series 3: "Revision of Trigonostemon (Euphorbisceae) of Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo"
Series 4: Index to Names in Croton
Series 5: Index to Names in Phyllanthus
Series 6: Index to Names in Sapium

Series 1          Euphorbiaceae Determinations, 1964-1973
                        1.5 lin. in. Arranged by subject.

This series contains correspondence related to the transmission and determination of specimens.

Series 2         Euphorbiaceae Loans, 1959-1969
                       1 lin. in. Arranged by subject.

Correspondence, notes, and ledger sheets related to the lending of Garden specimens to institutions of botanical study make up Series 2.

Series 3           "Revision of Trigonostemon (Euphorbisceae) of Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo"
                        2 fldrs. Arranged chronologically.

This series consists of transmission correspondence and the manuscript for Dr. Jablonki's revision of Trigonostemon and other correspondence related to other publications.

Series 4           Index to Names in Croton
                        1.5 lin. ft. Arranged alphabetically.

Index cards with species names and citations in the genus Croton.

Series 5          Index to Names in Phyllanthus
                        1.8 lin. ft. Arranged alphabetically.

Index cards with species names and citations in the genus Phyllanthus.

Series 6           Index to Names in Sapium
                        4 lin. in. Arranged alphabetically.

Index cards with species names and citations in the genus Sapium.
 

Processed July 1999 by Laura Zelasnic under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-23141-98 and a grant from the Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation.


For more information and a complete description contact:
Susan Fraser, NYBG Archivist
The LuEsther T. Mertz Library
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
(718) 817-8879
 
 



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