Dr. Parisa Keshavarzi, a German-based pharmacist, was one of the speakers at the Flora Iranica Scientific Conference and among prominent international scientists and botanists.
The 1st Flora Iranica International Conference on the occasion of the international year of basic sciences (2022), and in memory of Theodor Kotschy, an Austrian botanist, was held in collaboration with the Cultural Association of the Austrian, German and Swiss Embassies at Kharazmi University in Tehran. The conference focused on the history of botany, botanical knowledge, herbal medicines, climate change, and its impact on the planet and sustainable development. Prominent scientists and botanists from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Iran, and India spoke. Parisa Keshavarzi from Germany, Ph.D. in Pharmacy from Heinrich Heine Düsseldorf University, was invited to the conference.
History of botany and eastern and central Europe botany, and the biography of Theodor Kotschy, Austrian, Biography and Botanical Projects Theodore Kotschy was the subject of Dr. Keshavarzi’s lecture. Dr. Keshavarzi was born in a Zoroastrian family in Tehran; she has lived in Germany since she was a child and studied pharmacy at the University of Düsseldorf. In an interview with Dr. Keshavarzi, she expressed her satisfaction that a Zoroastrian woman had the honor of attending this scientific event. Regarding the subject of her lecture, she said: “After completing my studies I wanted to do research in the history field and also a topic related to Iran. I consulted my consulting professor; in his book he had mentioned Theodor Kotschy as the discoverer of a variety of wheat.
Based on the consulting professor’s knowledge about the botanical projects of Theodor Kotschy, he recommended this Austrian botanist for my research. After studying about Kotschy’s life, I came to know that he is an outstanding botanist and the first botanical climber to climb Damavand peak, and so I wrote my PhD thesis on this personality. Since Kotschy lived in the 19th century, in the beginning of my research, in order to better understand his handwritten notes I needed to have access to his travel journals and correspondences. I was also learning the handwriting used in that period. For a whole year I studied the old German handwriting in another university.
Kotschy writes in one of his books that he believes that all the knowledge and science that the West as acquired is from the Eastern civilization. He believes that the East was the founder of civilization. That is why he was always so keen on making field trips to the East. He came to Iran nearly 190 years ago to collect unique plants. I wondered why a young Austrian student was so interested in Oriental studies. Kotschy writes in one of his books that his idea is that he has taken all the knowledge and awareness that the West has acquired from Eastern civilization. Kotschy believed that civilization was the foundation of the East, so he was always interested in making research trips to the East.
One of his great dreams was to climb Damavand Peak, where he left one of the first recorded ascents. His plan assemblages from southern Iran, plant species of the Zagros mountains and its southern slopes and the Persian Gulf islands have formed the basis of our knowledge of botany of these areas. By collecting, drying and naming plants, he prepared invaluable information and a collection of plants, which are now available for scientific researchers to use. Each plant specimen contains information about the habitat and characteristics of the plant at the time of collection and identifies the classification array to which the plant belongs and the information recorded on its label.
The two-day conference began with a speech by Dr. Habibi, a graduate of Kharazmi University, and Wolf Dietrichheim, the Austrian Ambassador to Tehran, on May 12, 2022, at the Shahrivar Hall Kharazmi University. In the continuation of the program, the participants visited the herbarium section of the Faculty of Biology of Kharazmi University and parts of the Museum of Kharazmi University. The program ended with a visit to the Iranian Botanical Garden. Dr. Kristin Bruischler from Austria, Director of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Dr. Jalil Norouzi from the Department of Botany, University of Vienna, and Dr. Ernst Wittek, former Director of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, attended the event online. Dr. Laurent Gauthier from the Department of Biology at the University of Geneva and Tahereh Maliki from Zurich participated in the symposium.
UNESCO has named 2022 as the international year of basic sciences. This naming is to attract global attention towards basic sciences as the primary basis of development and progress in countries. So far, many institutions worldwide have joined in the celebration of this event. Holding the Flora Iranica international conference was one of the programs in Iran for commemorating basic sciences.
