Paul Fischer (zoologist)

Paul-Henri Fischer (born February 14, 1898 in Paris , † September 14, 2003 in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia ) was a French zoologist .

Life

Family and education

Born in Paris, Paul Fischer came from a family of scholars . His grandfather, the doctor , palaeontologist , zoologist and malacologist Paul Henri Fischer (1835-1893), founded the first malacological journal in 1850, namely the Journal de Conchyliologie . His father Pierre Marie Henri Fischer (1865-1916), whose friends included Louis Pasteur and Marie and Pierre Curie , also emerged as a malacologist and doctor. His mother Louise (1871–1954), the daughter of the archaeologist and prehistorian Édouard Piette (1827–1906), took over the management of the Journal de Conchyliologie after the death of her husband. The person who grew up in this environment showed an early interest in science, especially in malacology. He accompanied his parents on numerous trips, where he discovered his passion for travel. After graduation , he turned to the study of natural sciences at the Sorbonne , which he, interrupted by his participation in the First World War , graduated in 1922 with the academic degree of a licencié es-sciences.

Paul Fischer married Marie-Helene nee Droulers in 1935, with whom he had the daughter Danielle, who illustrated some of his works, and the son Jean-Louis, who carried out malacological research in Antarctica . In 1963 Fischer moved to Australia, in autumn 2003 he died at the age of 106 in a nursing home in Sydney.

Professional background

After completing his studies, Paul Fischer received an assistant position at the zoological institute of the Faculté des Sciences of the Sorbonne. In 1944 he moved to the École des mines de Paris as head of the paleontological experimental research department . In 1949 he accepted an honorary professorship for zoology at the Université de Saigon, in 1952 he returned to the École des mines de Paris, where he was appointed curator of the Collections Paléontologiques (paleontological collections), and in 1963 he said good-bye in the Retirement. He then worked for the Great Barreer Reef Committee and the Malacological Society of Australia, of which he was made an honorary member .

Fischer, who accompanied Jacques Cousteau on his first dives off the coast of Brittany , also undertook research trips to France, Greece , Iceland , Norway (including Spitzbergen ), Canada , Australia, Turkey and the United States . In addition, he was in charge of the Journal de Conchyliologie until 1979.

Paul Fischer, author of more than 300 articles from different topics, is one of the leading malacologists in the first half of the 20th century. In recognition of his special services to France, he was appointed Chevalier in 1992 and Officier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1998 .

Publications (selection)

• Vie et moeurs des mollusques , Payot, Paris 1950
• Les animaux d'Australie , Payot, Paris 1959
• Constitution d'une Union Européenne de Malacologie , in: Journal de conchyliologie, Volume 102 , P.-H. Fischer, Paris 1962, pp. 114-116.
• A brief history of Journal de Conchyliologie , in: Malacological review, Volume 10, Number 1/2 , 1977
• Essai de Chronologie Humaine - Les temps préhistoriques , Surrey-Beatty, Sydney, Australia, 1980
• La France - Ses rapports Historiques avec les autres Peuples , Surrey- Beatty, Sydney, Australia, 1989
• Petits Problèmes Historiques , Surrey-Beatty, Sydney, Australia, 1992

literature

• D. Marmont, JM Ponder: Obituary Dr. Paul Fischer, 1898 2003 , in: Molluscan research, Volume 24 , CSIRO Pub., Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, 2004, pp. 131-133 (PDF; 344 kB); Retrieved May 12, 2012
• Spirula: correspondentieblad van de Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging, volumes 339-342 , Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging, Amsterdam 2004, p. 136.

Web links

• Paul Fischer 1898-2003 on the website www.malacsoc.org.uk; Retrieved May 12, 2013
• The dictionary: les malacologues célèbres - P. Fischer ; Retrieved May 12, 2013