Curt Kosswig

Curt Karl-Franz Kosswig , also written Curt Koßwig (born October 30, 1903 in Berlin , † March 29, 1982 in Hamburg ), was a German zoologist and geneticist. After his escape from National Socialism , he was in exile from 1937 to 1955 professor of zoology at the University of Istanbul and from 1955 to 1969 at the University of Hamburg . Curt Kosswig is considered the father of Turkish university zoology and is the discoverer and founder of the western Turkish bird paradise at Lake Manyas . His scientific focus was the zoology of the amphibians .

Life

Curt Kosswig attended the Technical University in Braunschweig, then studied and completed his habilitation in 1930 in Münster with the zoologist Leopold von Ubisch , who was dismissed from office by the National Socialists in 1935 and emigrated to Norway. Kosswig, who accepted his appointment as associate professor for genetics in Braunschweig in 1933, refused to temporarily take over Ubisch's position. From March 1933 he was the first professor at the Zoological Institute of the TU Braunschweig . At the same time, he also directed the Natural History Museum .

"Kosswig was appointed non-party to Braunschweig on April 1 , 1936, joined the SS in November, became the training manager of the Race and Settlement Office headed by Darré , and left the SS in August 1936."

“He was not only responsible for teacher training, but was also supposed to teach racial studies and social biology for other students as well as for party members and the interested population. Koßwig took advantage of the opportunity to emigrate to Turkey in 1937 , where he was the founder of an independent Turkish zoological research in Istanbul. ”Appointed to the University of Istanbul, he worked there as a full professor and director of the Institute for Zoology and Hydrobiology and also worked intensively with doctors. With the dentist Kantorowicz , who also came from Germany , he partly had the same daily journey from Bebek to the Galata Bridge , but did not share his passion for arguments and discussions. Kosswig and Kantorowicz were also friends with Alfred Heilbronn , who later took on Turkish citizenship.

In 1955 Kosswig was appointed professor at the University of Hamburg. He followed this call and was a full public professor until his retirement in 1969, director of the State Zoological Institute and the Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg. 1957/1958 he was President of the German Zoological Society .

Curt Kosswig died on March 29, 1982 in Hamburg and was buried in a cemetery in Istanbul in accordance with his last will in Turkey, his second homeland, whose language he spoke like no other of his emigrated colleagues.

During his time as a student, Kosswig became a member of the Landsmannschaft Marchia Berlin (today: Landsmannschaft Marchia Berlin zu Osnabrück ).

Scientific work

Curt Kosswig was an eminent zoologist and geneticist. His most important scientific publications were in the areas of sex determination , cancer development, constructive and regressive evolution , genetics of domestic animals, zoogeography and systematics .

Honors

• Honorary doctorate from Istanbul University
• 1968 Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Saarland University
• 1970 Honorary doctorate from the University of Giessen
• On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Curt Kosswig's birthday in October 2003, the Faculties of Natural Sciences and Fisheries Science of the University of Istanbul and the Zoological Institute and Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg organized a joint memorial symposium in honor of the deceased.

Publications (selection)

• 1937 Yılından bugüne kadar Türkiye'deki hatıralarımdan bazılari. In: 2. Türk-Alman tıbbi ilişkileri sipozyumu, İstanbul September 20-25, 1982. Istanbul 1981, pp. 19-28.

literature

• Michael Wetter / Daniel Weßelhöft: Victims of National Socialist Persecution at the Technical University of Braunschweig 1930 to 1945 , Hildesheim 2010, pp. 151–153.
• Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special consideration of his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). Medical dissertation, Würzburg 1985, pp. 268-270.

Web links

• A list of his publications, online (PDF; 186 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special reference to his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). Medical dissertation, Würzburg 1985, pp. 268-270.
2. ↑ Ute Deichmann : Biologists under Hitler. Campus Verlag, 1992.
3. ↑ II. Highlights 1933–1945. on aleph99.org
4. ↑ The Zoological Institute of the TU Braunschweig is 75 years old. ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on tu-braunschweig.de 
5. ↑ Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special reference to his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). Medical dissertation, Würzburg 1985, pp. 268-270.
6. ↑ Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special reference to his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). 1985, p. 269.
7. ↑ Klaus Velten: The Emigration of German Scientists to Turkey 1933–1945. Diplomica Verlag , Hamburg 1998
8. ↑ Honorary doctorates from the Faculties of Science and Technology I-III, Saarland University ( Memento of the original from May 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ German scientists in Turkey after 1933: Ord. Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Curt Kosswig and his outstanding importance for zoological research and teaching. ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 476 kB) on egefish.ege.edu.tr