The year 2021 marks 155 years since the birth of Alexandru Popovici and 80 years since his death. With this paper we want to commemorate the outstanding figure of Alexandru Popovici, professor and director of "Anastasie Fătu" Botanical Garden of Iași. He was born on October 30 th 1866 in the village of Cârniceni (Țigănași commune, Iași county). He attended the primary school in his native village, the "Ștefan cel Mare" gymnasium in Iași and the National College of Iași, which he graduated in

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... 5 [MITITIUC & TONIUC, 2006] . After that he left for the capital and started his university studies, at the Faculty of Sciences from the University of Bucharest, which he graduated in 1888. To complete his professional training, his mentor, Dimitrie Brândză send him to Germany, to enroll at Bonn University, where, under the supervision of the renowned professor Eduard Strasburger, he completed and defended, in 1893, his PhD thesis entitled Ueber Struktur und Entwickelung eigenartiger Wandverdikungen in Samen und Fruchtschalen / The structure and development of some particular thickenings of cell membranes in the seeds and pericarp of some angiosperm species [TOMA, 2015] . He followed the courses held by great botanists such as Noll ad Schenk and continued his studies at the University of Leipzig [PAPP, 1942] . He returned to Romania and continued his work as custodian and further as assistant at the Botanical Institute of Bucharest. In 1895 he becomes a substitute professor at the University of Iași, in 1900 associate professor and starting with 1904 he becomes titular professor at the prestigious higher education institution. He was a dedicated professor who actively participated at the development of the Botany Laboratory, with specific features that allowed 40 students to simultaneously study practical Botany, the Herbarium with personal or bought sheets and the Library, with valuable Botany and Mycology volumes, including his own written courses (Botanică Sistematică. Cryptogamia. 2. Bryophyta, Pteridophyta / Systematic Botany. Cryptogamia. 2. Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Curs de Fanerogame / Phanerogams course), necessary to study the fields of anatomy, physiology and systematics [PAPP, 1942] . Moreover, his domains of interest also included the study of mushroomsmycology, his reference contributions to this field -Contributions à la flore mycologique de la Roumanie (Contributions to the study of Romanian mycoflora), being published between 1900 and 1910 in the Scientific Annals of the University of Iași, describing 29 species of myxomycetes and 204 genera with 440 species of ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. His diligent and hard-working nature helped him in both his scientific and administrative activity, Alexandru Popovici being twice elected as Dean of the Faculty of Sciences [MITITELU & COSTICĂ, 1992] . He understood the fact that biology in general and botany in particular, must be learn in the middle of the nature, that plants aren't just a studying object, but a living organism, that have to be integrated in the environment [IFTIMOVICI, 1977] and it is necessary for the University of Iași to have a Botanical Garden similar with the one organized by the great science loving professor dr. Fătu [BURDUJA, 1979] . He strongly believed that ...a botanical garden