Obituary: The Rev. Father Dr. V. S. Manickam S. J. (1944–2012)

2012·2.2 MB·English

by  A Benniamin

The
Obituary: Rev. Father
Dr. V.
S.
Manickam
(1944-2012)
S.
J.
li
Dr. A. Benniamin
Chris Fraser-Jenkins
Kathmandu and
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
With away
the passing of Rev. Father Dr. Visuvasam Sousai Manickam,
Pteridology in India has lost one of great stalwarts. Father Manickam died
its
on the 30*^ March 2012 at St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, Madurai,
bringing to an end a life of 68 years spent in spiritual quest and in the pursuit
of Pteridology.
Born on
June 1944, in the small village of Kamalapuram, Dindigul
District
l""*
Tamil Nadu, one
of as of several children, the second son Visuvasam
of
Paripooranam.
After his local school studies he joined the Society of Jesus
at
Beschi College, Dindigul, in 1961 and studied religion for two years. He then
went Chennai pursue and was
to to his college studies ordained
as a priest
at
Loyola Madras Chennai He
College, then was] 1964-1967. chose an
(as in
undergraduate course in Botany Loyola College, which he passed with
at a
high mark and then went on to do a postgraduate course in Botany
at
St.
Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy], earning a class degree through
first
and
his dedication attention
to detail.
Following this and his awakening interest in Botanical studies, he was
awarded Ph.D. Botany 1975
a in in at the University of Kerala, Thiruvananta-
puram which He
(Trivandrum), he joined in 1971. studied there under the
guidance of Professor C. A. Ninan, in the school of the Professor A.
late
Abraham, was under
to learn fern cytology. Prof. Ninan's stimulating
It
supervision that he developed his ground-breaking research studying the
cytology of South Indian ferns and carried out extensive detailed fieldwork on
He
the Pteridophytes of the Western Ghats from 1969 onwards. was
able
to
explore the entire Palni Hill range, surveying and collecting some 2500
BENNIAMIN MANICKAM
& FRASER-JENKINS: OBITUARY:
V.S.
and
pteridophytes, simultaneously pursued profound
his religious develop-
ment and These
studies. pteridophyte collections were the basis for the
taxonomic which
part of his Ph.D. work, he completed Kerala University
at
He
from 1971-74. also studied in detail the ecology of ferns of the Palni Hills,
under guidance French
the of the Pondicherry. This included
Institute,
correlating the distribution of ferns in the various phytogeographic zones
of
the Palni Hills to the micro- and macro-climate. During work he
this
in-
vestigated the cytology of about 35 species of ferns. The results were published
Manickam
in three books, & Ninan's Enumeration of ferns of the Palni Hills
(1976) and Ecological Studies on the Fern Flora of the Palni Hills India]
[S.
and Manickam's
Fern
(1984) Flora of the Palni Hills {South India]
(1986), as
well as a further research-paper on cytology (Manickam, 1984). In these works
Manickam made
Father every communicate with
effort to other botanical
authorities internationally and to revise and update the taxonomy and
nomenclature to a superior level. It was also a great advantage that unlike his
predecessors he documented and numbered
his collections conscientiously,
numbers and
providing the something no
details in his publication,
that other
cytotaxonomists in India were doing at that time. As a result, has been
it still
one and
possible 35 years later for of us (CRFJ) to find photographically record
all
voucher-specimens and much
his cytological in various herbaria apply
a
more modern taxonomy
changed, them, long he had produced
critical to after
his important cytological results. This has not been possible the
for pteridological
who
studies of any other workers from Trivandrum, even recently, neither kept
actual voucher-specimens, nor cited numbers in their publications, and the same
many
Mehra
applies to of the earlier publications of the Prof. P.N. School
at
work
Panjab University, Chandigarh, or the of Prof. T.S. Mahabale Pune, and
at
others. In South India only Manickam's and Dr. Ghatak's cytological work can
J.
modem
and
be properly verified today applied to pteridology.
After his Ph.D. he joined as Lecturer in Botany from 1979-1981
the
at
Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph's College, Trichy, working with the accom-
K.M. Mathew, on
plished Botanist, Dr. the ferns of Karnataka and the whole
of
Western Ghats. His extensive herbarium from
the collection the earlier as well
work
more recent thus mainly housed Trichy (RHT) and
as is at the well-
documented, good quality cytological and distributional voucher-specimens
when
he published have been photographed there and necessary,
critically
re-
identified by CRFJ. But he was not happy at Trichy, and in 1982 he transferred
From
Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, as Lecturer in Botany. 1982
to St.
to
was and worked
2008 he settled for nearly 30 years his beloved
at St. Xavier's
College and continued the bulk of his research career there, also supervising
and them
many introducing world
students to the fascinating of Pteridology,
and Botany in general, in a series of major projects. His extensive
later her-
housed
(XCH) and
barium collections are at St Xavier's again nearly
the
all
important voucher-specimens of his and his students' have been photographed
by
preservation CRFJ.
there for
During 1984-87, funded by the Department of Science & Technology,
he
carried out a major project on the Biosystematics of ferns of the Western Ghats
AMERICAN FERN VOLUME NUMBER
JOURNAL:
102
3 (2012)
covering an area of 18,000 km., and some 5000 numbers
sq. collecting of
pteridophytes. Detailed work was done mountain
field in the ranges of
all
Nadu
Tamil and
Kerala between Kanyakumari and
Palghat. Assisted by
his
accomplished who
Varaprasatham
student, Dr. Irudayaraj 1960), carried out
(b.
number
a spectacular of well-documented chromosome-counts, he
investigat-
ed the cytology of 110 ferns collected from the The and
area. cytological tax-
onomic were published two Manickam and
results in books, Irudayaraj
's
Cytology of ferns of the Western Ghats South India (1988) (with an addition
and Manickam
and
correction, Iruadayaraj, 1989) and the outstandingly useful
and major work, Manickam and
illustrated Irudayaraj Pteridophyte Flora
of
's
the Western Ghats South
India
(1992).
-
In a second project funded by European the Western Ghats were
Jesuits,
explored from Palghat to Coorg in Karnataka. Detailed fieldwork was carried
Wyanad
out in the Nilgiris, Silent Valley, and Coorg, collecting 3500 num-
As
bers. a part of this project, five families of ferns were subjected to pre-
A
liminary phytochemical by
analysis his research-scholars. third related
project concentrated on re-exploring several of the higher mountains such
as
Anamallays, and
the Palnis Tirunelveli hills (resulting in a further book,
Manickam
and
Irudayaraj Pteridophyte Flora South
India
of Nilgiris,
's
(2003)).
1987 he crowned new
In his research-career with the opening of a and
modern
Research Laboratory at St. Xavier's, the Centre for Biodiversity and
Manonmanium
Biotechnology
(CBB), Sundarnar
affiliated to University,
He
was
Tirunelveli District. the founder and Director of the Laboratory, which
concentrated on research on Pteridophytes, Angiosperms, and also environ-
mental education to school teachers and children. In he supervised 25
all,
who now
Ph.D. students have good
there, all positions in various organiza-
He was
tions. successfully able to raise funding grants for the Laboratories'
Research-Projects amounting more than two rupees
to crore (20 million Indian
rupees, or 400,000 U.S.D.) from various International and National
c. scientific
and
educational funding
agencies.
Manickam
was
Father elected a Life Fellow of the Indian Fern Society in
He
recognition of the high quality of his work. published 10 botanical books
and more
than 180 papers (a selection of his publications in Indian Fern
is
J.
22(l-2):204-208 (2005)). Later in his life he also wrote a number of spiritually
down
insightful religious discussions with a very practical and to earth context
designed help young
to people.
Manickam
Father has been honored with naming
the of four fern taxa
after
manickamianum
him, Polystichum Benniam., &
Fraser-Jenk. Irud. (2008),
Thelypteris parasitica Tardieu subsp. manickirudorum
(L.) Fraser-Jenk. (2008),
Athyrium x manickamii and manickamii
Fraser-Jenk. (2008) Pteris Bom.Raik.,
and three Angiosperms, Memycelon manickamii Murugan
et al (2002),
Xanthophyllum manickamii Murugan and Eugenia manickamiana
(2002)
Murugan much
(2002). It is to his credit that unlike other contemporaries he
many
himself did not descend into naming erroneous and spurious "new
species" etc. that has so damaged Indian pteridology.
BENNIAMIN MANICKAM
& FRASER-JENKINS: OBITUARY:
V.S.
Unfortunately
in the last five years of his life the College wished to take over
and him
his grants therefore sent to stay at Madurai awray from his former
students at work. During this time he remained of perfectly sound mind and
memory
despite the injustice and disappointment of the Even
situation.
after
unwanted Manickam
his retirement Father was He
highly
active intellectually.
had
learned the Thirukural Tamil poetic by and
[of literature) heart spent
much
time and expounding He was
translating not only an excellent teacher
it.
who
but also a philosopher would always guide young
students
in their
chosen
direction
in
life.
14*
In the last year of his life, on Aug. 2011, his village people celebrated
a
Golden
Manickam's
Jubilee for Father 50 years since joining the Society of
was
Jesus (1961-2011). a most happy occasion, which he
enthusiastically
It
enjoyed.
Manickam's
Father
contribution
to science, especially in Pteridology,
amounts and monumental
to a definitive treatment of the ferns of South
The
India. loss to science and Botany from his death immense,
is as is the loss
humanity
to of his delightful personality. hard indeed think
It is to of his
now
beloved establishment no longer with and
filled his jovial laughter, his
lifetime's expertise uniquely guiding his active students along the path of
pteridology he trod so splendidly and May
dedicatedly. his soul rest in peace.