Meyer, Frank Nicholas

Frank N. Meyer was born Frans Meijer in Amsterdam in 1875. His family was not well off financially so young Frans was sent to work at the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens at age 14 as a gardener's helper. He proved an able assistant and worked his way up to the position of head gardener in charge of the experimental garden. His aptitude caught the attention of the director of the experimental garden Hugo de Vries who became his mentor and encouraged him to take some university courses on botany. Meyer arrived in the United States in 1901, and was hired by the USDA. In his 2 1/2 year tenure with the USDA, he completed several botanical expeditions to China. He subsequently began corresponding with Charles S. Sargent, the director of the Arnold Arboretum, who hired him to complete joint expeditions (with the USDA) to Asian in order to find plants of economic value. Meyer completed several major trips, documenting and bringing back thousands of specimens. Meyer died unexpectly in 1918, having either fallen or jumped off his steamer ship along the Yangtze River while enroute to Shanghai. He was buried in Shanghai.

From the description of Papers of Frank N. Meyer, 1907-1914. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 432425905

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