August Menzel

August Friedrich Christian Alexander Menzel (born August 27, 1810 in Bayreuth , † December 16, 1878 in Zurich ) was a German-Swiss zoologist and beekeeper .

Life

Born as the son of a professor for new languages ​​and owner of a private educational institution, Menzel attended a private institute and the Latin school and grammar school in Bayreuth. He studied medicine in Erlangen . During his studies he became a member of the old Erlanger fraternity Germania in 1830 . After the Frankfurt Wachensturm in 1833, a "strict investigation" was carried out against him. He escaped arrest by fleeing to Switzerland , where he was granted asylum . In 1834 he continued his studies in Zurich.

In 1839 he became a citizen of the Zurich suburb of Seebach . From 1840 he worked as a teacher for mathematics and natural history at the Böckten district school . In 1847 he was back in Zurich and undertook scientific studies. In 1848 he became a subject teacher and from 1849 worked as a permanent teacher at the cantonal industrial school for natural history. In 1852 he switched to high school. In 1868 he became a private lecturer in zoology at the University of Zurich . He also worked at the Veterinary School and the Agricultural School. Together with Conrad von Rappard, he was involved in founding an institute for microscopy and is a well-known beekeeper. From 1861 to 1862 he was Vice President and from 1865 to 1867 President of the Swiss Bee Friends Association . Menzel was an editor for the Swiss bee newspaper from 1863 to 1866 . From 1847 he was a member of the Zurich Natural Research Society . He was a co-founder and since 1858 a member of the Swiss Entomological Society.

Publications (selection)

• Methodical hand atlas of natural history. Mineralogy Zurich 1845.
• About the way of life of the spiders. Zurich 1849.
• Methodical hand atlas for thorough teaching and for self-teaching in natural history, especially for students and teachers. Zurich 1851.
• On the structure of the chitin formations in the animal circle of the arthropods. Zurich 1855.
• Natural history of the common honey bee or domestic bee (Apis mellifica L., Abeille domestique, Hive-bee) as the basis of rational beekeeping. Zurich 1855.
• Research life of a deaf person. (Johann Jakob Bremi) Zurich 1858.
• On the history of the bee and its breeding. Zurich 1865.
• The bee in its relationship to cultural history and its life in the cycle of the year. Zurich 1869.

literature

• Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 4: M-Q. Winter, Heidelberg 2000, ISBN 3-8253-1118-X , pp. 81-82.

Web links

• August Menzel in the archive for agricultural history.