Theodor Steck-Hofmann

Theodor Steck-Hofmann

Theodor Steck (born February 6, 1857 in Bätterkinden ; † January 6, 1937 in Bern ) was a Swiss entomologist and librarian . He was considered the best expert on the Swiss insect fauna.

life and work

Theodor Steck was the son of the pastor of Bätterkinden. After completing school in Bern, he studied natural sciences at the universities of Zurich and Stuttgart . In particular, he dealt with mineralogy and geology during this time .

Steck then acquired the secondary school teacher certificate and was a teacher at the “Burgerlichen Orphanage” in Bern, then at the secondary school in Belp and later at the “New Girls' School” in Bern. In Belp he married the daughter of the governor Friedrich Hofmann von Rüeggisberg . He had three sons with his wife († 1928).

Steck was appointed curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum in Bern in 1881 and was secretary of the Entomological Association of Bern for 35 years and its president for 16 years. He later became sub-librarian and in 1917 senior librarian of the City and University Library of Bern.

Steck also worked as an editor, librarian and president of the Swiss Entomological Society. He was an excellent expert on the literature and his excellent memory for bibliographic data was widely appreciated.

In 1894 he earned his doctorate with his dissertation The Biology of the Great Moosseedorfsee . Collecting trips took Steck to Ticino , Valais , the Mediterranean countries to North Africa , where he had contact with other natural scientists and researchers.

Steck discovered various insects in Switzerland that were unknown at the time, and five insect species that his colleagues had found were given the species name “stecki”. In the last years of his life, Steck dealt primarily with the hymenoptera and his treatment of the subject of insects in the bibliography of Swiss cultural studies was of the greatest value.

Theodor Steck was known as the "father of Swiss entomology". He died of heart failure four weeks before his 80th birthday.

Web links

• Otto Morgenthaler: Nekrolog for Theodor Steck-Hofmann. In: Mitteilungen der Schweizerische Entomologische Gesellschaft, Volume 17, Issue 4, 1937–1939, pp. 179–180 ( PDF )
• Nekrolog for Theodor Steck-Hofmann. In: Die Berner Woche, Vol. 27, 1937, p. 118. ( e-periodica )