Charles Oberthür

Charles Oberthür (born September 14, 1845 in Rennes ; † June 1, 1924 there ) was a French entomologist specializing in butterflies .

Life

Family grave of the Oberthürs in Rennes

Oberthür was the son of the Alsatian publisher François-Charles Oberthür (1818-1893), the founder of the publishing house Oberthür. He was a butterfly collector and his insect occupation carried over to his sons. In addition to Charles, his brother René Oberthür (1852–1944) was an entomologist and his grandson Henri Joseph Oberthür .

He put together one of the largest private butterfly collections in the world (with 5 million specimens in 15,000 glass cases) and many first descriptions (45 species alone) come from him. He increased his collection mainly by buying up important collections, but he also had missionaries collected for himself, for example, and supported the missionary work in return.

From 1876 he published a series of books Études d'Entomologie (21 volumes up to 1902) and from 1904 the series Études de Lepidopterologie comparée (22 volumes up to 1924). Both series are richly illustrated. They were printed in the family's own publishing house, for which Oberthür looked for capable illustrators.

He was on the Rennes City Council.

In 1913 he received the Prix Cuvier from the Académie des Sciences .

literature

Jean Gouillard: Histoire des entomologistes français, 1750–1950. Paris: Boubée 2004.
Jean Lhoste: Les Entomologistes français, 1750–1950. INRA Editions, 1987.
Houlbert: Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 93, 1924, pp. 163-178.

Web links

Photo and short biography

References and comments

^ The collections of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval (1799–1879), Achille Guénée (1809–1880), Jean-Baptiste Eugène Bellier de la Chavignerie (1819–1888), Adolphe de Graslin (1802–1882), Constant Bar (1817–1884), Emmanuel Martin (1827–1897), Antoine Guillemot (1822–1902), Henry Walter Bates (1825–1892)

personal data
SURNAME	Oberthür, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH	September 14, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rennes
DATE OF DEATH	June 1, 1924
Place of death	Rennes

[1] The collections of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval (1799–1879), Achille Guénée (1809–1880), Jean-Baptiste Eugène Bellier de la Chavignerie (1819–1888), Adolphe de Graslin (1802–1882), Constant Bar (1817–1884), Emmanuel Martin (1827–1897), Antoine Guillemot (1822–1902), Henry Walter Bates (1825–1892)