Persons, Collections and Topics
Löve, Áskell, 1916–1994
HI Archives collection no. 319
Papers, 1950–1987
3.0 linear feet (2 boxes)
Biographical Note
Áskell Löve was born 20 October 1916 in Reykjavik, Iceland. In June 1937 he earned a B.A. degree from Reykjavik College. He received an M.Sc. in 1941, a Ph.D. in 1942 and a D.Sc. in 1943, all from the University of Lund in Sweden.
During his career Löve wrote over 400 articles and reviews on popular botany and cytogenetics in different periodicals. He concentrated his research and writing in the areas of the cytotaxonomy of higher plants, phytogeography, Pleistocene and continental drift. He received grants from the NATO Advanced Study Institute in 1962 and 1963 for biosystematic investigations on both sides of the North Atlantic. Further career highlights include a lectureship at the International Congress of Geneticists in The Hague in 1963 and a grant to study wheatgrasses in Yugoslavia in 1972. Löve served as chairman of the Department of Botany at the University of Colorado at Boulder until 1973 when he was forced to retire under dubious circumstances. He continued to research and write on the flora of North America from his home in San José until the onset of Alzheimer's disease in 1992. Löve died in 1994.
Scope and Contents Note
The papers of Áskell Löve consist of drafts of articles, correspondence and notes on both professional and personal subjects. The bulk of the materials date from the 1970s and 1980s. Most of the correspondence is dated and chronicles discussions on professional topics. The series descriptions represent the record-keeping system of Löve, and items were processed to maintain this original order. The papers also include Löve's account of the unusual incidents leading to his forced retirement from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1973. Doris Löve wrote a history of both her and Áskell's families and included it with the collection.
Finding Aid
A finding aid for this collection is available online.
Other Resources
For information about portraits of and biographical citations for the subject, see the Hunt Institute Archives Register of Botanical Biography and Iconography database.
