Clara Heyn

Clara Heyn named several new species and helped scientists better understand the variety of plants native to Israel. Born Chaia Clara Blau, Heyn fled Vienna in 1938 with her parents and made Aliyah to Palestine, where she studied at a teacher’s college in Tel Aviv and taught primary school for seven years. She earned her doctorate in botany in 1960 and began a successful career. Her dissertation became a book that has remained a classic in the study of Medicago. Heyn began teaching at Hebrew University and directed the school’s herbarium from 1969 to 1997. She won Optima’s Gold Medal for her scientific contributions.

Botanist Chaia Clara Heyn was born on June 13, 1924, in Cluj (Transylvania), Romania, to Paul-Pinchas (1889–1948) and Sima (née Grünfeld, 1895–1990) Blau, who also had a son, Jehoshua. Theirs was an affluent Jewish family. Paul Blau had a doctorate in international relations and worked as a journalist and businessman, while Sima was a homemaker. In 1931 the family moved to Baden, Austria, relocating to Vienna in 1937. One year later, in response to the Anschluss, the Blaus immigrated to Mandatory Palestine.