Georg Semper

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Georg Semper 1863, CDV by GH Julius Lüttgens (1832–1889)

Johann Georg Semper (born August 3, 1837 in Altona ; † February 21, 1909 in Ottensen ) was a German manufacturer and entomologist who was particularly concerned with butterflies .

Life and work as a businessman

Georg Semper was a son of the factory owner Johann Karl Semper (born March 14, 1796 in Hamburg ; † February 5, 1881 in Altona) and his second wife Elisabeth, née Heyne (born February 1, 1811 in Altona; † April 28, 1877 there ). His stepbrothers from his father's first marriage included Carl Semper and the manufacturer, conchyliologist and paleontologist Otto Semper (1830–1907).

Semper's father had owned the Paap-Sempersche wool yarn factory since May 1, 1822 . Since 1651, this company consisted of a stocking factory created by Ewert Boehmer and Dierck Willemsen Paap and the woolen yarn factory founded by Johann Wilmsen Paap . Georg Semper initially worked in his father's company and, after his father's death in 1881, took over management of the company with his brother Otto. In 1890 they expanded the factory and moved to a new location in Bahrenfeld . Otto Semper left the company at this time.

Georg Semper's younger brother, Dr. Carl August Semper, in the company. Then there were the new partners Lübbe and Andresen. After Lübbe died, the Sempers company merged with the “ Norddeutsche Wollkämmerei & Kammgarnspinnerei, Bremen ” group. The Sempers managed the factory known as the "Bahrenfeld branch".

Georg Semper was married to Maria Elisabeth Gaensly (born July 19, 1850 in Eppendorf , † April 14, 1928 in Niendorf) on October 16, 1869 . The couple had two daughters and two sons.

Importance as a lepidopterist

Semper dealt with lepidopterology . At first he researched the butterflies around Hamburg and found a rare and highly sought-after owl butterfly called "Agrotis lidia Cramer" on the estate of one of his parents on the Blankeneser Kösterberg , which appeared regularly there from 1857.

From 1866 to 1874, Semper tried to breed the silk moth Bombyx mori L from China, possibly for business reasons . Semper tried to select the most cold-resistant animals possible and use them to raise a strain that was viable in the open air in the north German climate. In 1873, 65% of free-range animals reached the pupal stage . The quality of the silk they produced clearly did not match that of silk from the same animals that had been kept in closed rooms.

Together with Museum Godeffroy and its custodian Johannes Dietrich Eduard Schmeltz , Semper conducted research on exotic butterflies. Afterwards he looked at exhibits that his brother Karl had collected in the Philippines. For this he wrote two extensive folio volumes with color plates. These works became very important for zoogeography. The exhibits belonging to the publications were taken over by the Zoological Museum in Berlin and Semper, who had received them from his brother, himself. The exhibits from the Philippines in particular later went to the Senckenberg Nature Museum . The butterflies from Indo-Australia were taken over by the collector Julius Weiß from Deidesheim, who had a special collection. In 1920 this went to the Staudinger & Bang-Haas insect business in Dresden, which they sold.

After working on the butterflies from the Philippines, Semper turned back to native creatures. These exhibits, some of which were significant specimen copies, were later taken over by the Altona Museum . There was also a well-kept collection of dipteras and several other groups of insects.

Works

literature

  • Herbert Weidner : Semper, Georg . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 2. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1971, pp. 218–220

Remarks

  1. ↑ Wollgarnfabrik Tittel & Krüger and Sternwoll-Spinnerei AG. HPV Marzipanfabrik GbR, accessed on February 7, 2017 (the text was compiled from the commemorative publication 300 years of star wool spinning (1651-1951) by R. Seegebrecht, Hamburg 1951).
  2. ↑ Georg Semper: About my attempts to breed silk with Bombyx mori . In: Negotiations of the Association for Natural Science Entertainment in Hamburg . tape 1 (1871-1874) . L. Friederichsen & Co, 1875, ZDB -ID 201639-4 , p. 90-91 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  3. ^ Georg Semper: Description of Papilio Godeffroyi . In: Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London . tape 2 , 1864, p. 469-470 (English, google.de ).
  4. ↑ Georg Semper: Butterflies collected on the island of Yap and their history of transformation . In: Journal of the Museum Godeffroy . tape 1 , no. 2 , 1873, ZDB -ID 576001-X , p. 58-64 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  5. ↑ Wartmann: Biographical Notes on Professors Carl Deicke and Othmar Rietmann , in: Report on the activities of the St. Gallic Natural Science Society during the year 1869–70, Zollikofer, St. Gallen 1869, pp. 402–421, digitized
personal data
SURNAME Semper, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Semper, Johann Georg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German manufacturer and entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Altona
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1909
Place of death Ottensen