Alfred Mykolaiovych Oxner

Alfred Mycolayovych Oxner (; ) (15 February 1898 – 20 November 1973) was a Ukrainian botanist and lichenologist. His research covered various areas: floristics, taxonomy, phylogenetics, phytogeography, and phytosociology. Oxner founded the National Lichenological Herbarium of Ukraine.

Biography

Alfred Nikolaevich Oxner was born on 15 February 1898 in Elizavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine). Although his family was of German nobility, they kept their origins and nationality secret during the time of the former socialist regime. The names of his real parents, Nicolay Ochsner, an ensign in the reserve and a farmer, and his mother Wilgelmine (née Schwartz), are on his birth certificate. However, he grew up with the families of his foster mother Zinaida Lazarevna Solomonova and her brother Mozyrj Lazarevich Solomonov.