OBITUARY -
Prof. Mohammed Nizamuddin
(11th January 1930 – 16th
January 2011)
Dr. Mohammed Nizamuddin (Malick), a
renowned phycologist and world authority on brown algae silently expired
in the morning of Sunday, the 16th January 2011 at the
residence of his youngest daughter in Karachi. May God Almighty shower
his choicest blessings upon the departed soul and may his soul rest in
peace in heaven. Ameen. He had been in all health (secondary glaucoma,
hip-bone fracture and prostrate malfunctioning) for a couple of years
but was active in guiding phycological investigation until a few weeks
before his death, which reflects his vehement passion for research.
Prof. Nizmuddin was born on 11th January 1930 at Atsar, Bihar, British India as 1st son of Mr. Abdul Ghafoor a landlord of famous Malick family. During infancy he lost his father and was taken care by the sister of his father. He passed High School examination in 1945 from Kosi, Nawada, Distt. Gaya, Bihar and was married to a relative, Ms. Akhtari Jahan Begum in 1946. Then he struggled for livelihood (as school teacher) as well as further education and completed his B.Sc. degree in 1950 from Patna University, Bihar. He migrated to Pakistan and joined City High School in Karachi as a teacher. After the establishment of Karachi University in 1952 he offered his services 1952 in the administrative office. Simultaneously, he worked for his thesis in Mycology under the supervision of Prof. A.A. Anwer and obtained M.Sc. degree in Botany in 1954. Then he went to Australia and completed an excellent research work on the cytology and taxonomy of brown algae in 1960 under a renowned marine phycologist, Prof. H.B.S. Womersley and obtained in April 1961 the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide. Meanwhile, he was supporting a wife and three children (fourth child was borne after his return). This reveals his drive and struggle for education and research.
After returning back from Australia, he rejoined the services of Karachi University as lecturer (now called Asst. Professor), established a section of Marine Botany and started researches on the taxonomy of green algae from Karachi coast. During 1966-67 he worked at the University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A. under the Fulbright Scholarship with Prof. G.F. Papenfurs, another renowned algal taxonomist. During 1968-69 he worked at the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, F.R. Germany under Alexander non Humboldt Fellowship with Prof. Fritz Gessner, a famous hydrobotanist. In September 1970 he joined the services of El-Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya as Asstt. Professor, where from he retired in September 1991 as Professor. There he could make some classical publications on the taxonomy of marine algae of the Mediterranean Sea. Every year during summer vacations he went to the Natural History Museum of Berlin University, F.R. Germany to work with Prof. J. Gerloff, a well-known taxonomist. This indicates his dynamic abilities to work on the algal flora of a variety of seas and oceans.
Dr. Nizamuddin stayed permanently at Karachi after retirement and devoted himself voluntarily with the researches on the algal taxonomy at the University of Karachi. After the sad demise of his wife (17th May 2002), he remained ill most of the time and became weaker and weaker but visited the research lab periodically. After the creation of Pakistan, he appeared as the pioneering phycologist, and the sapling of marine Phycology of Pakistan which he planted in 1961, is now a huge and gigantic tree with varied branches. All those working now on marine algae all over Pakistan and Libya, are either his own students or his grand-students. He was a handsome person with a charming personality, had a warm and affectionate behavior with his students and encouraged them upon their learning and using new techniques in research.
He was a pioneering member of the Editorial Board of Pakistan Journal of Botany (1969-1970), Pakistan Journal of Marine Biology (1999-2001) and International Journal of Phycology & Phycochemsitry (2005-2008). He was an assiduous researcher and a prolific writer, having published 120 research papers and five research books on the taxonomy of marine algae. He has brought to the world 40 new species, four new genera and 2 new families of algae. A new classification of the order Fucales, manographs of the genera Bryopsis, Caulerpa, Codium, Cystoseira and Padina and detailed investigations on the orders Bacillariales, Dictyotales, Cladophorles and Punctariales are his remarkable endeavor, which will make his memories as immortal. Keeping in view his meritorious service in the field of research and education, the President of Pakistan awarded him in 1970 the medal of Pride of Performance. Due to his valuable contributions on algal taxonomy he was made in 1990 a Fellow of Linnean Society of London. A brown algal genus Nizamuddin Silva and ten algal species have been named in his honour by his admirers and students, and this list will increase further due to his marvelous taxonomic achievements.
Prof. Nizamuddin is survived by two sons
(Dip. Ing. M. Musleh Ezamuddin & Dip. Ing. Muhammad Arif) and two
daughters (Mrs. Tafakhkurr Anjum & Mrs. Durce Nayab). An educationist
and researcher, he will be remembered for long by his students who are
now in the teaching or research institutions at home and abroad. May God
Almighty give enough strength to a lot of his students, colleagues,
friends and members of his family to bear the loss.