Henry Potonié

Henry Potonié (16 November 1857 – 28 November 1913) was a German botanist and paleobotanist, known for his studies of coal formation.

In 1891 he was appointed professor of paleobotany at the Mining Academy in Berlin, then around 1901, became a professor of paleobotany and geology at the university.

[1][2] In 1888, he became editor of the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, a periodical that he was associated with for 24 years,[2] and supported several associations devoted to popularize science in Berlin, such as the Urania.

[3] He lived at Potsdamer Straße 35 in Groß-Lichterfelde (now a part of Berlin), where he died in 1913, aged 56.

In 1899 he published the highly acclaimed Lehrbuch der Pflanzenpalaeontologie (Textbook of Plant Paleontology); its second edition being published in 1921 by Walther Gothan with the title Lehrbuch der Paläobotanik.