Hugo De VriesHugo Marie de Vries was born on February 16, 1848, in Haarlem, Netherlands, to Maria Everardina de Vries-Reuvens and a family that nurtured his intellectual curiosity. He was a prominent Dutch botanist and one of the pioneers of genetics. De Vries isprimarily known for his work in rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s, a discovery he made independently of Gregor Mendel's earlier work. His research was groundbreaking in the field of genetics, and he introduced the term "mutation" to describe changes in species. He also developed a mutation theory of evolution, which proposed that new species could emerge through sudden changes or mutations, challenging the gradualist view of evolution. De Vries was educated at the Universiteit Leiden, where he honed his scientific skills and later contributed significantly to the study of plant biology. His work laid the foundation for modern genetics and evolution theory. Hugo de Vries passed away on May 21, 1935, in Lunteren, Netherlands, at the age of 87, leaving behind a legacy that greatly impacted the fields of biology and genetics. Read More Read Less