Adolf Schenck
Adolf Schenck (born April 4, 1857 in Siegen , † September 15, 1936 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German mineralogist , geographer , botanist and university professor.
Life
Schenck, one of four sons of the doctor Martin Schenck and his wife Johanna geb. Dressler, attended schools in Siegen and Soest , where he graduated from high school in 1877. Schenck then studied natural sciences and geography at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin and moved back to Bonn. In 1884 he was promoted to Dr. phil. doctorate and in the same year received a position as a scientific assistant at the Mineralogical Museum of the University of Bonn.
In 1884 Schenck took part in a mining expedition to German South West Africa , which Adolf Lüderitz put together. The leader of the expedition was Karl Höpfner , other participants were the mining engineer and geologist Waldemar Belck , August Lüderitz , the brother of Adolf Lüderitz, Ludwig Conradt and the botanist Hermann Pohle. Hans Schinz also went on the ship to South West Africa, with the task of researching the flora and the possibilities of agricultural use in the new German colony.
While Schenck and Pohle carried out their plant collections in the southern part of the colony, Schinz's work area was limited to the north. In addition to plants and lichens, Schenk also collected minerals. Since no significant mineral resources were found in South West Africa, Schenck visited mines with ore and gold deposits in South Africa , Botswana and Mozambique .
A number of plant taxa are named after Adolf Schenck, so Barleria schenckii Schinz, Mesembryanthemum schenckii Schinz (= brownanthus vaginatus (Lam.) Chess. & M. Pignal subsp. Schenckii (Schinz) Chess. & M. Pignal) or Sesamum schenckii Asch. ex Schinz. The lichen Parmeliaschenckiana garbage. Arg. (= Xanthoparmeliaschenckiana (Müll. Arg.) Hale) also bears his name.
In 1887 Schenck returned to Germany and completed his habilitation in geography at the University of Halle in 1889 , was appointed professor in 1899 and mainly taught colonial geography . In 1905 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . In 1918 he was made a full honorary professor and retired in 1922. He lectured at the University of Halle until 1932.
His brothers were the physiologist Fritz Schenck , the botanist Heinrich Schenck and the biochemist Martin Schenck .
Honors and memberships
- Member of the National Liberal Party , later DVP , until 1931
- Honorary member of the colonial warrior association of the "General Maercker" protection force
- Chairman and Honorary Chairman of the Halle Department of the German Colonial Society
- Member of the board of the German Colonial Society
Fonts
- Adolf Schenck (1885): The area between Angra Pequena and Bethanien. Preliminary information from Lüderitzland. Petermann's communications. 31: 132-136.
- Adolf Schenck (1988): The geological development of South Africa. Petermann's communications. 34: 225-232.
Web links
- Literature by and about Adolf Schenck in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entry on Adolf Schenck in the Catalogus Professorum Halensis
- Profile ( Memento from August 1, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
Individual evidence
- ^ Member entry of Adolf Schenck at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on June 20, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schenck, Adolf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German scientist and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 4, 1857 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wins |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 15, 1936 |
| Place of death | Halle (Saale) |