Sigmund Schenkling

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Photography by Sigmund Schenkling

Sigmund Schenkling (birth name Berthold Sigismund Schenkling , born July 11, 1865 in Laucha an der Unstrut , † December 16, 1946 in Eisleben ) was a German teacher, entomologist and coleopterologist .

Life

Sigmund Schenkling graduated from elementary school in Laucha. As the son of the teacher and coleopterologist Carl Schenkling (1835–1911), he followed in his father's footsteps at an early stage. After completing his training at the Weißenfels teacher training college in 1888, he first worked in Stolberg in the Harz Mountains, then in Hamburg as a primary school teacher. There, his scientific studies increasingly focused on beetle science (coleopterology). His work on the beetles ( Cleridae ) brought him world renown in professional circles around the turn of the century and the invitation to co-author one of the most important entomological works of the time , the Genera Insectorum by P. Wytsman(1866-1925). Shortly after his marriage to Paula von Pein, with whom he raised three sons, Schenkling followed in 1904 the appointment of curator at the German Entomological National Museum (today's German Entomological Institute , DEI) in Berlin, which by the scholar and entomologist Gustav Kraatz as private foundation had been established. As custodian and bibliographer , Schenkling made a significant contribution to the DEI becoming the most important German entomological institution with a worldwide reputation in the years to come.

In 1909, the Dutch publisher and entomologist Wilhelm Junk won him over as editor for the publication of the Coleopterorum Catalogus , an ambitious project that was supposed to bring together all the Beetle literature that had been published up to that point in a systematic and up-to-date manner. The work on it lasted 30 years and the catalog grew to 31 volumes in lexicon format; A total of 57 authors worked on it. Even today it is considered a standard work in coleopterology. During his work at the DEI until 1922, Schenkling, together with the director of the DEI and doctor Walther Horn (1871-1939), recorded the entomological literature until 1863 in the Index Litteraturae Entomologicae , which is also still important today.

After retiring in 1926, Schenkling began his last major work, the Faunistic Guide through Coleoptera Literature , of which, however, only the first volume could be published because of the Second World War. Most of the manuscripts that were not destroyed by the war are now in the DEI archive, which also looks after Schenkling's academic legacy.

In recognition of his life's work, the German Entomological Society awarded Sigmund Schenkling the Johann Christian Fabricius Medal in 1943 .

Fonts (excerpt)

  • Nomenclator Coleopterologicus, Frankfurt am Main 1894, and Jena 1922
  • Pars 13 (Cleridae) in: P. Wytsman, Genera Insectorum, Brussels 1903
  • Explanation of the scientific beetle names from Reitter's Fauna Europaea, Stuttgart 1917
  • with W. Horn: Index Litteraturae Entomologicae, Berlin 1929
  • Coleopterorum Catalogus W. Junk editus a S. Schenkling, 's-Gravenhage 1940
  • Faunistic guide through coleopteran literature, Neubrandenburg 1938
  • German National Entomological Library, editing with C. Schaufuss, from 1910
  • as well as numerous other writings on the Clerids, articles, specialist contributions etc. in the DEI archive

literature

  • W. Junk, Bibliographia Coleopterologica, The Hague (Holland) 1935: The Becoming of a Great Encyclopedia, pp. III – XV
  • Messages from the Entomological Society e. V. Halle (Saale), September 1939, issue 17, p. 62 Book reviews: Faunistic guide through coleoptera literature
  • Sigmund Schenkling: Afterword to the Coleopterorum Catalogus, pars 140, Index generalis, 1940, pp. I – IV
  • Communications from the German Entomological Society, e. 5th year 12, No. 1 from March 18, 1943; Meeting reports, p. 5/6: Public Fabricius meeting of the German Entomological Society on January 18, 1943. Chair: EM Hering
  • Contributions to Entomology, Vol. I, 1951, p. 102 :, H. Sachtleben, obituary (S. Schenkling) ( digitized )
  • Stefan von Kéler : Entomological dictionary, Akademie-Verlag 1963: Overview of the lexical and manual literature
  • W. Ebert, K. Rohlfien, G. Petersen, G. Friese: One Hundred Years DEI, Memorandum, Contributions to Entomology, Berlin 1986, 36 (1): 5–32, sources and quotations p. 21, 24, 27, 32 , 34, 48 ( digitized version )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Almost all sources name "Sigmund" as a first name, as he himself signed; the birth certificate, however, shows "Sigismund".
  2. ↑ On this G. John: Obituary K. Schenkling . In: German National Entomological Library 1911, p. 160; W. Ebert, K. Rohlfien, G. Petersen, G. Friese: One Hundred Years DEI , Memorandum 1986, p. 24. Both works, like many other publications, give the first name with “K” instead of “C”.
personal data
SURNAME Schenkling, Sigmund
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schenkling, Berthold Sigismund (full name); Schenkling, Sigismund
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German teacher and entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Laucha on the Unstrut
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1946
Place of death Lutherstadt Eisleben