Thekla Susanne Ragnhild Resvoll (22 May 1871 – 14 June 1948) was a Norwegian botanist – a female pioneer in Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 education and nature conservation together with her sister, Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen

Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen

Hanna Maria Resvoll-Holmsen was a Norwegian botanist – a female pioneer in Norwegian natural history education and nature conservation together with her sister, Thekla Resvoll...

. She was married to mining engineer Andreas Holmsen (1869-1955).

Resvoll was born in Vågå

Vågå

Vågå is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo....

. She worked as a nurse in an upper-class home in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 before commencing studies of natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 at the Royal Frederick University

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 in Kristiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 1894. She became an adept of the professor of botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, Axel Blytt and, after her graduation in 1899, she was made an associate professor at the Botanical Laboratory in 1902. She obtained the doctorate in 1918 on a thesis entitled On Plants Suited to a Cold and Short Summer, in which she presented studies on adaptations of alpine plants to the harsh environment. These studies were Warmingian of nature, that is they were based on meticulous observations of plant individuals—their clonal and sexual propagation, perennation etc. Thus, it was plant population ecology

Population ecology

Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. It is the study of how the population sizes of species living together in groups change over time and space....

 before that discipline was first conceived. Thekla Resvoll made a visit to Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 and the botanic garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 in Buitenzorg in 1923-24. She studied Fagaceous

Fagaceae

The family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often...

 trees in the Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

n flora. She found that they had hibernation buds and interpreted it as an unnecessary trait – a rudiment

Rudiment

In percussion music, a rudiment is one of the basic patterns used in rudimental drumming. These patterns of drum strokes can be combined in many ways to create music.- History :...

 from their temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 origin. She remained at the Botanical Laboratory until her retirement in 1936. Her botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 classes made a resting impact on generations of Norwegian students. She also wrote a textbook on botany for high school pupils.

Alongside her academic career, Thekla Resvoll took part in the women's equality movement in Norway. She was a head of the Norwegian Female Student’s Club and on the board of the women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

 movement (Kvinnestemmeretsforeningen). She was the third woman to become a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

.

She died in 1948 in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

.

Selected scientific works

• Resvoll, T. R., 1900. Nogle arktiske ranunklers morfologi og anatomi. Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, 38: 343-367.
  • Proof of energy storage in the rhizome of Ranunculus glacialis
    Ranunculus glacialis
    Ranunculus glacialis, the glacier crowfoot or glacier buttercup, is a plant of the family Ranunculaceae.-Distribution:Ranunculus glacialis is an arctic-alpine species, found in the high mountains of southern Europe as well as on the Scandinavian peninsula, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Jan Mayen,...
    
    .
• Resvoll, T. R., 1903. Den nye Vegetation paa Lerfaldet i Værdalen. Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, 41.
  • Describes primary succession
    Ecological succession
    Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...
    
    .
• Resvoll, T. R., 1906. Pflanzenbiologische Beobachtungen aus dem Flugsandgebiet bei Röros im inneren Norwegen. Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, 44.
• Resvoll, T. R., 1917. Om planter som passer til kort og kold sommer. Doctoral thesis, Oslo.
• Resvoll, T. R., 1925. Rubus chamaemorus L. A morphological - biological study. Nytt Magasin for Naturvidenskapene, 67: 55-129.
• Resvoll, T. R., 1925. Rubus chamaemorus L. Die geographische Verbreitung der Pflanze und ihre Verbreitungsmittel. Veröffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes Rübel in Zürich, 3: 224-241.
• Resvoll, T. R., 1925. Beschuppte Laubknospen in den immerfeuchten Tropenwäldern Java
  Java
  Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
  
  s. Jena.
  • Hibernation buds in Tropical trees.