Hu Xiansu

Hu Xiansu
Hu Xiansu
胡先骕
	Hu in the 1940s
Born	24 May 1894; Xinjian, Jiangxi, Qing China
Died	16 July 1968 (aged 74); Beijing, People's Republic of China
Resting place	Mount Lu, Jiangxi
Nationality	Chinese
Education	Peking University; University of California, Berkeley (B.Sc.); Harvard University (Ph.D.);
Children	6
	Scientific career
Fields	Biology; Botany; Paleobotany; Plant taxonomy;
Institutions	Nanjing University; Science Society of China; Botanical Society of China; Fan Memorial Insitute of Biology; Southeast University; Academia Sinica; Peking University; Beijing Normal University; Lushan Botanical Garden; Jiangxi Normal University;
Doctoral advisor	John George Jack
Notable students	Wang Wencai
Author abbrev. (botany)	Hu

Hu Xiansu or Hu Hsen-Hsu (simplified Chinese: 胡先骕; traditional Chinese: 胡先驌; Wade–Giles: Hu Hsien-Hsu, 24 May 1894 – 16 July 1968) was a Chinese botanist and traditional scholar. He was the founder of plant taxonomy in China and a pioneer of modern botany and paleobotany research in the country.

Arguably, his greatest single achievement in botany was the identification the modern existence of the Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood) of the long thought extinct genus Metasequoia in the 1940s. The discovery is considered one of the most significant in botany of the 20th Century.

Apart from botany, Hu was also a prominent contributor towards literature, co-founding The Critical Review, a major Chinese-language journal promoting traditional Chinese culture and values during the New Culture Movement. Hu also served as the first principle of what is now Jiangxi Normal University between 1940 to 1944.

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