Richard Hanitsch

Karl Richard Hanitsch (born December 22, 1860 in Großenstein , † August 11, 1940 in Oxford ) was a museum curator .

He was the son of the school principal Viktor Hanitsch . After graduating from school, he enrolled at the University of Jena and studied there from 1881 to 1885. After graduating, he went to Liverpool in 1886 where he worked as a demonstrator at the University Collage. It was here that his interest in sponges began and he published articles about sponges in journals. In 1895 he went to Singapore where he was curator and library at the Raffles Library and Museum . Despite a meager budget, he managed to complete both tasks. The budget was increased and the building expanded. In September 1908 he became director of the museum. He was also treasurer of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and editor and secretary of the Journal of the Asiatic Society . He managed to secure important collections for science.

Hanitsch retired on July 7, 1919. His successor was Major JC Moulton, previously a curator at the Sarawak Museum. He went to England, where he continued to do research at Oxford University every day.

Hanitsch published mainly in entomology , but also on birds , amphibians and reptiles . He was considered a capacity in this field and even received an honorary doctorate (honorary MA) from Oxford University in 1935 .

He visited Christmas Island and in 1978 a stamp was dedicated to him by the same . The cockatoo species Richanitscha is named after him.

family

He married Ethel Vernon in 1892 . The couple had two sons and three daughters.

literature

• David Rentz, A Guide to the Cockroaches of Australia , Appendix p. 31, digitized partial view (with picture)
• Nature, 1940, p. 360

Web links

• Sitragandi Arunasalam, Karl Richard Hanitsch , National Library Board Singapore