Obituary A professor with a passion for flowers
On 18 February 2025, Professor Dr Peter Leins passed away at the age of 87. Ruperto Carola mourns the loss of the renowned botanist, who headed the university's Botanical Garden and the Institute of Systematic Botany and Plant Geography for many years. From 1983 until his retirement in 2002, he shaped teaching and research there.
Born on 26 March 1937, in Pforzheim, Peter Leins studied biology, chemistry, geography, and philosophy in Tübingen, Freiburg, and Munich. He earned his doctorate with a dissertation on the evolutionary history of Ericales flowers at LMU Munich, where he also completed his habilitation in 1971. In 1973, he was appointed to the Botanical Institute at the University of Bonn. Ten years later, he moved to a professorship in systematic botany at the University of Heidelberg.
The botanist's scientific passion was devoted to the morphology and evolution of flowering plants and natural selection in the context of ecological competition. Peter Leins published over 100 scientific articles and his work has been cited over 2,400 times. As chair of the “Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology” section, he was also involved in the German Botanical Society and was co-editor of journals such as Plant Diversity and Evolution and Bibliotheca Botanica.
In addition to his research, Prof. Leins was also active as an editor at Heidelberg University: Together with Prof. Dr Jürgen Funke, he designed the Heidelberg Yearbooks for the Society of Friends of Heidelberg University for over a decade. He contributed eight articles together with his long-time colleague and partner Prof. Claudia Erbar, in which the author duo presented biological and social topics in a well-founded and vivid manner, accompanied by their own photographs. Peter Leins wrote his last article, “Anecdotes and Narratives in the Scientific Disciplines of Biology – The Humanization of Scientific Findings and the Influence of Ancient Mythologies” (expected to be published at the end of 2025), shortly before his death.
He also devoted himself to philosophical questions in his retirement – for example, in seminars such as “Nature & Freedom” and “Evolution and Belief in God”. He was particularly committed to the cause of peace. As a witness to the destruction of Pforzheim by bombing raids during World War II, he carried the memory of the horrors of war within him. One day before his death, he sent a moving farewell message by email to friends and companions, appealing to them to preserve peace through tolerance and love. His guiding principle: “Create peace without weapons”.
Prof. Peter Leins was not only a passionate botanist and dedicated university lecturer, but also a thoughtful humanist. He will be remembered as an active member of the university network and supporter of alumni work – both professionally and personally.
