Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm

Rudolf von Willemoes - Suhm ( born September 11, 1847 in Gluckstadt, † September 13, 1875 near Tahiti ) was a German naturalist and biologist. He was instrumental in the Challenger expedition as a zoologist.

Life

School and teaching

Rudolf von Willemoes - Suhm received his first education in the pelvic wall and later attended the Johanneum in Hamburg, where he obtained a high school on March 20, 1866.

Even in his school days, his scientific interest was aroused. First public attention was paid to his publications in the scientific journal The Zoological Garden. Some of these were: Contributions to the bird fauna of northern Germany, to others at night bird fauna or albinos among the birds of the Hamburg Museum (1867 ). Shortly before his graduation, he held the lecture The birds of prey around Hamburg -Altona (1866 ), which later in the journal The zoological garden appeared. This essay he wrote at age 18.

"Well, we are thus entitled to present the geographical distribution of the species as one of the main branches of the natural sciences and, as far as our powers extend to participate to expand their knowledge. And much, very much is still to do it left. "

From 24 April 1866, he began his studies of law in Bonn, where he became a member of Corps Borussia. However, he moved to only one semester at the University of Munich to study zoology. Beginning April 17, 1869, he continued his studies at the University of Göttingen, where he received his doctorate on February 19, 1870 with a dissertation on the anatomy and development of some specific parasites of Doctor of Philosophy.

Studies and expeditions

Study in La Spezia, Genoa and the Bay of Kiel were interrupted by the convening in the Hessian regiment of hussars. After returning to the University of Munich, he took part in an expedition to the Faroe Islands, of which he reported in his letters to his mother. The results of this expedition, he published in the journal Nature.

After the arrival of the expedition ship Phoenix in October 1872 in Edinburgh Willemoes - Suhm met the hitherto known scientist and Professor Charles Wyville Thomson know, who in turn invited him to the Challenger Expedition.

Willemoes - Suhm took on the task of zoologists on the Challenger Expedition, and described and drew discovered during the expedition species. He died shortly before the end of the journey on 13 September 1875 on board the consequences of an infectious disease ( erysipelas ). His personal and academic experiences he reported in dozens of letters to his mother and the professor Philipp Franz von Siebold, who published them in journals.

Services

As a legacy of its work, the large number of his letters and works published after the death of his mother apply. Moreover, according to him the Polychelidae genus Willemoesia and the island of Iceland Suhm were named, were discovered during the Challenger expedition.

Publications

• Challenger letters. From 1872 to 1875. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.1777
• Biological observations on Lower animals. In 1871.
• Numerous publications in the scientific journal " The zoological garden ".