Eilif Dahl

Eilif Dahl (7 December 191617 March 1993) was a Norwegian botanist and politician for the Labour Party. He made contributions to the field of lichenology through his work on lichen chemistry and taxonomy, particularly his studies of Arctic flora. His most important publication was Studies in the Macrolichen Flora of SW Greenland, which described several new lichen taxa. Dahl served as a professor of botany at the Norwegian College of Agriculture from 1965, was active in resistance work during the German occupation of Norway, and later became a board member of the Labour Party from 1965 to 1977. Throughout his career, he maintained connections between lichenology and other botanical disciplines, creating identification keys that proved valuable to researchers across Scandinavia and Australia.

Early life and education

Dahl was born on 7 December 1916 in Kristiania. His interest in lichens started with an early friendship he developed with Professor Bernt Lynge. Thanks to Lynge, Dahl was able to take part in the 1936 Heimland botanical expedition to eastern Svalbard and Kong Karls Land, and then a Danish-Norwegian expedition to Greenland the next year. His collections from these excursions were used as part of his cand. real. thesis that he presented to the University of Oslo in 1942.

Despite suffering from emphysema for many years, Dahl remained mentally and physically active until shortly before his death at age 76 on 17 March 1993.