Hugh Iltis

Hugh Iltis
Iltis at his 85th birthday celebration (2010).
Born	(1925-04-07)April 7, 1925 Brno, Czechoslovakia
Died	December 19, 2016(2016-12-19) (aged 91) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Known for	Discoveries in the domestication of corn (Zea mays)

Hugh Hellmut Iltis (April 7, 1925 – December 19, 2016) was professor emeritus of botany at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was best known for his discoveries in the domestication of corn (Zea mays).

Raised in Czechoslovakia, Iltis left Europe as a refugee in January 1939 just weeks prior to Nazi invasion of the country in March 1939. His father, Hugo Iltis, was a teacher at the Brno gymnasium, a botanist and geneticist, and a vocal opponent of Nazi eugenics. He was the first biographer of Gregor Mendel.

Iltis served in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, initially in an artillery unit. He was later transferred to an intelligence unit. After the war, Iltis was posted in Germany, where he sorted through piles of documents left by the Nazis, uncovering evidence of German war crimes.

Iltis was primarily trained in plant systematics and taxonomy with a focus on the families Cleomaceae and Capparaceae. While at the University of Arkansas from 1952–55, Iltis completed a study of the Capparaceae of Nevada. Later publications formed a series, Studies in the Capparaceae, which includes 24 publications, including newly described species and genera. An associated series of papers describes research in the family Cleomaceae, which was separated from the Capparaceae.

An avid plant collector, Iltis led numerous expeditions to many parts of the world to search for new plant species. As a botanist, he served as the Director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Herbarium. His work is of great economic importance, because he identified new sources of genetic variability that have been used by plant breeders.

Iltis used taxonomic and morphological approaches to investigate the domestication of corn. His work supported the view that domestic corn was derived from a species of teosinte, a group of grasses that grows wild in many areas of Mexico. It was once believed that the original wild corn was extinct. He also led a team of botanists who discovered a new species of teosinte in western Mexico, Zea diploperennis.