The Sapienza Herbarium Museum is deeply touched by the passing of Edda Lattanzi, a worthy florist and leading figure in Italian botany, who had always been linked to our Herbarium by a relationship of esteem, collaboration, and affection.
A schoolteacher, mother, and grandmother, Edda was able to combine her daily life with an extraordinary dedication to the study of flora, carrying out scientific research of the highest level with consistency and passion, even though she was not a professional botanist. For decades, she explored and documented the Italian territory, with particular attention to the flora of Lazio, becoming a recognized expert on the genus Rosa, to which she dedicated numerous contributions.
Her personal collection—the result of years of research, excursions, and meticulous determinations—is now preserved in our Museum, which has the honour of safeguarding its scientific and human value. It is a precious collection, not only for the quality of the specimens, but also because it bears witness to her courage, curiosity, determination, critical spirit, and powers of observation.
With Edda Lattanzi, we lose a point of reference for generations of botanists and students. Her example will live on in the pages of her herbarium, among the specimens of her roses, in the packages of her collections gathered throughout Italy and around the world. And Edda will forever remain in the hearts of all who had the privilege of knowing her.