Ana Maria Primavesi

Dr. Primavesi died in São Paulo on 5 January 2020 at the age of 99 from heart problems. She is buried in the city's Congonhas Cemetery.

In a 2016 interview, she explained one aspect of tropical soils:

After she retired from teaching, she and her husband moved to their own property in Itaí, located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. After her husband's death in 1977, she stayed there to put into practice her research about organic agriculture. She lived on the farm for more than 30 years and authored multiple publications about her research and agriculture work. Under Primavesi's management, her land, which was badly eroded when bought, was rejuvenated with springs, forests and agricultural areas. Her success there led to many speaking invitations and research projects around the world.

While at school, she met fellow agronomy student Artur von Primavesi, who was of German origin who she married in 1946. They had three children together. In 1949, they migrated to Brazil because Primavesi, like many other people, was threatened with forced deportation by the Russians in Austria, which had become a very unstable country in the years immediately following World War II.

Ana Maria Primavesi (Austria, 3 October 1920 – São Paulo, Brazil, 5 January 2020) was an agronomist, researcher and educator of soil science and especially the ecological management of tropical Brazilian soil.

Born on a large farm in an Austrian village in 1920, Annemarie Conrad fell in love with nature, inspired by her father. She studied at the Faculty of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of the University of Vienna, where she was one of only three women in her class. She went on to earn a doctorate in plant and soil nutrition.