De Vries (d? vr?s?), Hugo 1848-1935. Dutch botanist who championed Gregor Mendel’s works and emphasized mutation rather than natural selection as the primary mechanism of evolution.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.De Vries (Dutch d? ?vri?s) n (Biography) Hugo (?hy?xo?). 1848?1935, Dutch botanist, who rediscovered Mendel’s laws and developed the mutation theory of evolutionCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014De Vries (d? ?vris) n. Hugo, 1848?1935, Dutch botanist. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.