- Hermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel (
June 10 ,1804 -January 17 ,1884 ) was a Germanornithologist .Early life and education
Schlegel was born at
Altenburg , the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest innatural history . The discovery, by chance, of abuzzard 's nest led him to the study of birds, and a meeting withChristian Ludwig Brehm .Schlegel started to work for his father but soon tired of it. He travelled to
Vienna in 1824 where, at the university, he attended the lectures ofLeopold Fitzinger andJohann Jacob Heckel . A letter of introduction from Brehm toJoseph Natterer gained him a position at theNaturhistorisches Museum .Ornithological career
One year after his arrival, the director of this natural history museum,
Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers , recommended him toCoenraad Jacob Temminck , director of the natural history museum ofLeiden , who was seeking an assistant. At first Schlegel worked mainly on thereptile collection, but soon his field of activity extended to other zoological groups. It had been intended that Schlegel be sent to Java to join the Natural History Commission, but the untimely death of Temminck's intended successor,Heinrich Boie , prevented the realization of this project.It was at this time that Schlegel met
Philipp Franz von Siebold . They became firm friends and collaborated on "Fauna Japonica" (1845-1850).Director of the natural history museum
When Temminck died at the beginning of 1858, Schlegel succeeded him as director of the natural history museum, after having spent 33 years under his direction. Schelgel was particularly interested in south-east Asia, and in 1857 sent his son Gustav to collect in birds in
China . Gustav arrived to find thatRobert Swinhoe had got there first. In 1859 Schlegel sentHeinrich Agathon Bernstein , to collect birds inNew Guinea . After the death of Bernstein in 1865 he was succeeded byHermann von Rosenberg .Schlegel took on a young assistant called
Otto Finsch . At the same time, he started to publish a scientific magazine, "Notes from the Leyden Museum" as well as a vast work of 14 volumes, "Muséum d'histoire naturelle des Pays-Bas" (1862-1880). He employed three talented illustrators:John Gerrard Keulemans ,Joseph Smit andJoseph Wolf .The end of Schlegel's life was difficult: his wife died in 1864, Finsch moved to the natural history museum at Bremen, and the collections of the
British Museum started to eclipse those of Leiden.References
*"A Concise History of Ornithology", Michael Walters ISBN 1873403976
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