De Vries, << duh VREES, >> Hugo (1848-1935), a Dutch botanist and student of organic evolution, was known primarily as the author of the mutation theory. This theory states that new species of plants and animals arise by mutations (sudden transformations) which might appear at any time and are then continued from generation to generation. De Vries’s work stimulated research on heredity and evolution. However, mutations as conspicuous as those he described in the evening primrose were later proved to be the exception, not the rule. Born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, de Vries became famous with the publication of The Mutation Theory (1901-1903).
