Bertha Lutz

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Photograph by Bertha Lutz from 1925

Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz (born August 2, 1894 in São Paulo , † September 16, 1976 in Rio de Janeiro ) was a Brazilian herpetologist and women's rights activist .

Live and act

Lutz was the daughter of the renowned Brazilian doctor and biologist Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940). Already in her childhood she showed an interest in frogs while accompanying her father on his collecting excursions. However, her professional work as a herpetologist did not begin until she was over 40 years old. She studied science at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro . The latter course was part of her preparation for legal support for the women's movement in Brazil, with which Lutz had already felt connected in her youth. In 1922 she co-founded the first Brazilian women's rights organization and in the same year became a delegate at the 1st Pan-American Conference of the Federação Brasileira pelo Progresso Feminino, which enabled her to join the preparatory commission for a new Brazilian constitution in 1933, which enshrined women's suffrage in 1933 has been. Previously, Lutz was appointed secretary of the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, where in 1931 she took over the management of the natural history department. Despite her formal work as a naturalist, she continued her political commitment. This included her membership in the Brazilian delegation to the San Francisco Conference in 1945 , where the United Nations was founded. With Minerva Bernardino from the Dominican Republic, Virginia Gildersleeve from the USA and Wu Yi Fang from China, she was one of only 4 women out of 156 men to sign the UN Charter . In 1974 she was the Brazilian representative at the Inter-American Women's Commission (CIM) in Washington, DC

Bertha Lutz's herpetological work began as an assistant to her father, who studied frogs part-time. She published her first herpetological treatises between 1938 and 1938 together with her father. After the death of Adolfo Lutz in 1940 Bertha Lutz continued his work on the monograph of the frogs of Brazil. This resulted in a long line of scientific articles published by 1977. In particular, the systematics, way of life, development and behavior of species from the family of tree frogs (Hylidae) were treated. A numbered series of eight titles published between 1949 and 1952 describe frogs from their father's collection at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. In 1973 her standard work Brazilian Species of Hyla was published , based on her father's notes and her own. The photos in this book are from her brother Gualter A. Lutz. Planned volumes, in which other tree frog genera were to be treated and watercolors of frogs made by her father were to be published, were never realized.

Dedication names and awards

Several Brazilian frogs are named after Bertha Lutz, including Dendrophryniscus berthalutzae , Hyla berthalutzae , Scinax berthae , Cycloramphus lutzorum , Crossodactylus lutzorum , Scinax lutzorum and Megaelosia lutzae .

She is the namesake of the Diploma Bertha Lutz , awarded by the Federal Senate of Brazil since 2002 , which is awarded to deserving women's rights activists and feminists.

literature

  • Kraig Adler, John S. Applegarth, Ronald Altig: Contributions to the History of Herpetology. (= Contributions to herpetology. 5). Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 1989, ISBN 0-916984-19-2 , pp. 119-120
  • JP Kennedy: Bertha Lutz, 1894-1976 Copeia Vol. 1977, No. 1 (Mar. 16, 1977), pp. 208-209
  • Francesca Miller: Women, Culture, and Politics in Latin America . UC Press E-books Collection. University of California Press.
  • Lutz, Bertha , in: June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International encyclopedia of women's suffrage . Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , pp. 177f.
  • Cassia Roth / Ellen Dubois: Feminism, Frogs and Fascism: The Transnational Activism of Brazil's Bertha Lutz. In: Gender & History, Vol. 32, 2020, Issue 1, pp. 208–226

Web links

Commons : Bertha Lutz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gustav Keckeis , Lexicon of Women in Two Volumes, Vol. II, p. 478
  2. ↑ Background information based on The United Nations and the Advancement of Women, 1945–1996 from the United Nations Blue Book Series and the United Nations CD-Rom Women Go Global , 2000
personal data
SURNAME Lutz, Bertha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lutz, Bertha Maria Júlia (full name); Lutz, Berta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian herpetologist and women's rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH São Paulo
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1976
Place of death Rio de Janeiro