Karl Maramorosch

A centenarian and polyglot, he conducted research on viruses, mycoplasmas, rickettsiae, and other micro-organisms; and their transmission to plants through insect vectors in many parts of the world.

He is the co-author of a textbook on techniques in virology and is the author of numerous papers on the biology and ecology of plant viruses, their hosts, and vectors.

He grew up in Kołomyja, Poland (now Ukraine) where he attended primary and secondary schools (Gimnazjum Kazimierza Jagiellończyka) and from age of seven took piano lessons for twelve years, graduating from the Moniuszko Conservatory in Stanisławów (Ivano-Frankivsk) in 1934.

After the Soviet army liberated Romania Maramorosch continued his graduate studies at the Bucharest Polytechnic, choosing plant pathology as his major.

He modified Weigl’s procedure of lice inoculation, adopting it to micro-injection of plant pathogenic viruses and phytoplasmas into leafhopper vectors.

[6] In 1960 Maramorosch worked for six months as consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the Philippines where he studied the devastating cadang-cadang coconut palm disease.

In 1974 Maramorosch accepted the invitation from the Board of Governors of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to join the faculty at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology as tenured Distinguished Professor.

[3] Maramorosch traveled extensively to lecture and teach as visiting professor in Argentina, Armenia, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.

His major research interests include comparative virology, invertebrate cell culture, parasitology, emerging diseases caused by viroids, viruses, phytoplasmas and spiroplasmas, biotechnology, and international scientific cooperation.