In October 2004, Professor D. G. Babalonas abandoned his educational and scientific activities very abruptly. His death marked the Greek and international scientific community since a distinguished botanist, a remarkable phytosociologist, specialized in serpentine, halophytic and aquatic vegetation, passed away. Professor Babalonas was born in Veria (Greece) in 1944 and studied Natural Sciences at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; he graduated in 1968. In 1971 he was appointed Assistant Researcher at the Laboratory of Systematic Botany & Phytogeography of the same University. In 1979 he received his PhD in Botany with distinction. In 1982 he was appointed Lecturer and in 1984 he was unanimously elected Assistant Professor. In 1989 he was elected Associate Professor and in 1997 Full Professor of Botany at the School of Biology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He had been further trained at: i) The Geobotanical Institute, Eidgenösische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. His area of research was the serpentine flora and vegetation of the region of Northern Greece, ii) The Institute of Plant Physiology, Section of Hydrobotany of Vienna University. His research area was the aquatic flora and vegetation of the wetlands of Northern Greece. He had participated in educational exchanges and thus visited several Institutes of Phytosociology located in Germany (Stuttgard, Kassel, Giessen) in order to be updated in research areas and methods related to aquatic vegetation, heavy metal vegetation and rehabilitation of areas storing industrial wastes. During his 33 years of service at the University, he had taught Systematic Botany, Phytosociology and Phytogeography at the graduate and postgraduate levels. He was the principal figure of the Laboratory of Systematic Botany and Phytogeography and participated in many consulting and examination PhD boards. During the last 20 years, he had repeatedly been scientific coordinator of research programs and he had been one of the coordinators of “The Network of Protected Areas of Greece (NATURA 2000)”. His publications and research work covered several fields of the wider area of Systematic Botany and Geobotany. He wrote books for the theoretical and laboratory courses and was editor and co-editor in other publications. He had published more than 90 papers; of them, 47 were in international journals and 39 were presented in national and international conferences. Needless to say that he passed away at the peak of his scientific career leaving behind a large number of unpublished research. Professor Babalonas was a pioneer in the area of Phytosociology in Greece, especially in serpentine, halophytic and aquatic vegetation. He had been one of the founding members of the Hellenic Botanical Society, and took part in several scientific boards. Among his international activities, it is necessary to refer to his participation as National Representative of Greece at “the International Scientific Committee of the 4th European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC)”. He had also been collaborator at “The Salt Marshes in Europe”, Council of Europe, Strasbourg. Professor Babalonas had shown passion and devotion to his profession. He had been a distinguished teacher and dear to his students. His social contribution to the University and other areas had been more than significant. His collaborators and students at the Laboratory of Systematic Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki will be deprived of his guiding spirit, his skills, his ideas, his encouragement and his patience. His colleagues and students will always remember his kind, warm and open-hearted personality.
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