Gontran Hamel

Who is Gontran Hamel?

Gontran Georges Henri Hamel was a French phycologist.

In 1927 he earned his doctorate in natural sciences with a thesis on the red algae genera Acrochaetium and Rhodochorton. He is known for research performed in the "Laboratoire de Cryptogamie" at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He reportedly died while trying to reach Paris by bicycle prior to its liberation in August 1944.

In 1924 with Pierre Allorge, he was co-founder of the journal Revue algologique. He was also a contributor to the exsiccatae series Algues de France.

In 1942 Frederik Børgesen named the brown algae genus Hamelella in his honor. Also, the red algae species Lithothamnion hamelii is one of several species that bear his name.