Rudolf Scharfetter

Rudolf Scharfetter (born February 20, 1880 in Salzburg , † September 26, 1956 in Graz ) was an Austrian botanist and plant geographer .

Life

Rudolf Scharfetter was born in 1880 as the son of the KK postal controller Josef Scharfetter. The ancestors of the paternal line came from Salzburg, the ancestors of the maternal line from Lower Bavaria. From the age of 10 he attended the kk Staatsgymnasium in Salzburg from 1890 to 1898. He then enrolled in Vienna in 1898 for German studies . However, he stayed connected to this study for only a few months and instead turned to the natural sciences , more precisely: to biology . His teachers included u. a. the botanists Richard Wettstein and Julius Wiesner , the zoologist Karl Grobben , the mineralogist Gustav Tschermak and the geologist Eduard Suess . Originally as a doctoral supervisor Advised Wettstein was due to a research trip to Brazil this task does not take so sharp Stetter instead with his work "On the morphology of Doridier" at Grobben on marine slugs doctorate . The doctorate to Dr. phil. took place on July 1, 1902, a year later on June 20, 1903, he successfully passed the teaching examination for secondary schools. His major was natural history, his minor subjects were mathematics and physics. During his studies in 1898 he became a member of the Landsmannschaft der Salzburger Wien .

1902-1904 Scharfetter was a supplement , d. H. Assistant teacher for natural sciences, physics and mathematics at the State High School in Klagenfurt . In 1904 he was transferred to the state high school in Villach as a real teacher . The beginning of his scientific activities and the change from zoologist to plant geologist took place in Villach. He also married Helene von Zsàk there, with whom he fathered a son and three daughters in the following years.

In 1911 he was appointed professor at the Second State Realschule in Graz , where he became director for many years from 1919. In 1913 he completed his habilitation at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz under Karl Fritsch . In 1921 he became a university professor in Graz and author of fundamental papers on alpine vegetation . Shortly after the First World War, together with Hans Benndorf , Karl Linsbauer , Bernhard Seuffert , Karl Polheim and Heinrich von Srbik, he was also a member of a commission at the University of Graz that dealt with equality between men and women in the academic world, more precisely: regarding the habilitation had to deal with. From 1924 he had a teaching position for methodology of natural history teaching. In 1937 he was also appointed state school inspector for the Styrian secondary schools, later he became a member of the Reich examination office for teaching at higher schools (1941) and was appointed director of the teaching examination committee at Graz University.

Scharfstetter died on September 26, 1956. According to the obituary, he had "a gentle death at his desk". Although he had wished for a funeral "in silence" and there was no short-term obituary notice, a large mourners gathered at his burial in the St. Leonhard Cemetery in Graz on September 28, 1956. Among other things, Josef Matl , Dean of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Graz, gave a funeral speech.

Memberships

Due to his scientific activity, Scharfetter was a member of a number of scientific societies. This includes the Advanced Scientific Society of Finland as a corresponding member (from 1924), the Zoological-Botanical Society in Vienna as an honorary member (1951), the Natural Science Association for Styria and the Natural Science Association for Carinthia (both from 1955) and the Swedish Plant Geography Society as a corresponding member Member (1955).

Awards

In 1928 Scharfetter received the Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria . In 1931 he was awarded the title of Hofrat , and after reaching the age limit in 1950 he was appointed honorary professor . In 1956 he was given the honorary presidency of the 11th International Plant Geography Excursion (IPE), which led through the Eastern Alps.

In an obituary he was described as "without a doubt the last great old school Austrian plant geographer".

Publications (selection)

• Textbook of botany for the lower grades of secondary schools , Vienna: Deuticke, 1913
• The single middle school based on the Graz type , Graz: Leykam-Verlag, 1926
• Alpine plants , Bielefeld: Velhagen & Klasing, 1927
• Textbook of botany for the lower grades of middle schools , 5th ed., Essentially. unchangeable Abdr. D. 3rd edition, Vienna: F. Deuticke, 1929
• with Hubert Schmut: Textbook of botany for the 5th grade of secondary schools , Vienna: Deuticke, 1932
• with Andreas Thurner: Textbook of Tierkunde for the lower grades of secondary schools , Vienna: Deuticke, 1932
• The vegetation conditions of the Gerlitzen in Carinthia , Vienna; Leipzig: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1932
• Plant life in the Eastern Alps , Vienna: Deuticke, 1938
• The fate of plants , Vienna: Deuticke, 1952
• Biographies of plant species , Vienna: Springer, 1953
• with Hans Reiter (as publisher): Natural history educational hikes in the home: Ein Behelf f. Teachers, students, etc. Friends of Nature , Graz: Leykam, undated

Web links

• Literature by and about Rudolf Scharfetter in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Biebl: Rudolf Scharfetter 1880-1956 . In: Communications of the natural science association for Styria . No. 87 , 1957, ISSN  0369-1136 , pp. 5–11 ( PDF on ZOBODAT [accessed November 7, 2018]).
2. ^ ^{A b c} Gustav Wendelberger: Rudolf Scharfetter, obituary . In: Negotiations of the Zoological-Botanical Society in Vienna. Previously: Verh.of the Zoological-Botanical Association in Vienna. since 2014 "Acta ZooBot Austria" . No. 96 , 1956, ISSN  0084-5647 , pp. 7–9 ( PDF on ZOBODAT [accessed November 7, 2018]).
3. ^ Berthold Ohm and Alfred Philipp (eds.): Directory of addresses of the old men of the German Landsmannschaft. Part 1. Hamburg 1932, p. 415.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Richard Biebl: Rudolf Scharfetter 1880-1956 . In: Communications of the natural science association for Styria . No. 87 , 1957, ISSN  0369-1136 , pp. 6 ( PDF on ZOBODAT [accessed November 7, 2018]).
5. ^ Elisabeth Grabenweger: German Studies in Vienna: The Seminar for German Philology and its Privatdozentinnen (1987-1933) . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-044941-9 , pp. 188 f . ( Full text / preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 7, 2018]).
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Richard Biebl: Rudolf Scharfetter 1880-1956 . In: Communications of the natural science association for Styria . No. 87 , 1957, ISSN  0369-1136 , pp. 7 ( PDF on ZOBODAT [accessed November 7, 2018]).
7. ↑ Heinrich Wagner, Gustav Wendelberger: excursion guide for the XI. International plant geography excursion through the Eastern Alps in 1956 . Springer-Verlag, Vienna 1956, p. 5 ( full text / preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 7, 2018]).