Eduard Steinheil

Eduard Wilhelm Steinheil (born November 9, 1830 in Munich ; † October 11, 1878 in front of Saint Thomas ) was a German engineer and entomologist . He became known as an ant researcher.

family

His parents were Professor Carl August von Steinheil (1801–1870) and his wife Magaretha Amalie nee. Steinheil . The entrepreneur Hugo Adolph Steinheil (1832-1891) was his brother.

Life

He attended elementary and Latin school and then the high school class of the Polytechnic in Carlsruhe . Because of the revolution of 1848 he returned to Munich, where he went to the agricultural school in Schleissheim in autumn 1848. He graduated there in 1851. He then spent a year at the university in Hungarian-Altenburg , where he was noticed by Professor von Pabst , who recommended him to Count Larisch to Silesia after a year to help with the drainage there. The count must have been satisfied, because he gave the young Steinheil leave and funds to study brewing . On his return he brewed Bavarian bock beer in a small brewery , which inspired the count so much that it was decided to build a steam brewery. The sudden death of the count put an end to all plans, as his heirs had no interest in fulfilling the count's promises. Steilheil resigned and returned to his father in Munich in 1855. He worked there in his father's company, where his brother Adolf had been working since 1853 (" Optical-Astronomical Institute CA Steinheil & Sons ").

In 1865 the brothers took over the business. Eduard had long had a keen interest in entomological studies. He traveled to South Tyrol in 1848 , to Mehadia and to Herkulesbad in 1852 . As early as 1866 he visited Elba and in 1869 Tunis , where he became interested in tropical flora. When the doctors recommended a stay in the warmer climate at a young age due to pneumonia, he decided in the autumn of 1872 to travel to Colombia and spend the winter on a high plateau.

He collected many beetles, which he brought back to Europe in order to be able to evaluate them, which other entomologists then also took part.

When the Entomological Society was founded in Munich in October 1876 at the suggestion of Baron Edgar von Harold (1830–1886) , he was one of its founding members. After Harold's transfer to Berlin, Steinheil became president of the association. He stayed there until his second trip to Colombia, which he set off on September 22, 1878. On October 10, the ship made a stopover on Saint Thomas. During his stay, Steinheil suddenly fell ill with a fever, from which he died after a short time on October 11th. He was buried in the local cemetery.

The French entomologist René Oberthür bought his collection .

Works

Mr. Steinheil has published numerous scientific reports, including:

• Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen, 1876, booklet X
• Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen, 1877, Booklets VI and VII

family

In 1863 he married Charlotte Johanna Müller , the daughter of the university librarian in Erlangen. The couple had several children including:

• Friedrich Karl (1864–1926), Dr. Med ⚭ NN
• Emma (1865–1946) ⚭ 1883 Auguste Forel (1848–1931)