Alfred Voeltzkow (14 April 1860 – February 1947) was a German

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. He studied sciences at the universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, Freiburg, and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

, receiving his doctorate at Freiburg in 1887 with a dissertation on ''

Aspidogaster conchicola ''Aspidogaster conchicola'' is a trematode parasite of the Aspidogastrea subclass that commonly infects freshwater clams. It has not been well studied since it is of little economic or medical importance, but ''A. conchicola'' and its fellow aspid ...

''. He obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, and in 1900 became a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina. Voeltzkow is remembered for his scientific journeys in eastern Africa and islands of the Western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

; (

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Juan de Nova Juan de Nova Island (french: Île Juan de Nova, ), Malagasy: ''Nosy Kely'') is a French-controlled tropical island in the narrowest part of the Mozambique Channel, about one-third of the way between Madagascar and Mozambique. It is a low, flat ...

and

Aldabra Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

). On these expeditions, Voeltzkow collected zoological specimens of numerous

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

for study and classification. Voeltzkow's best-known written works involved his African journeys, and were titled: * "''Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Reisen in Madagascar und Ost-Africa in den Jahren 1889-1895''" * "''Reise in Ostafrika in den Jahren 1903-1905''". His name is associated with numerous species, including ''Cinachyrella voeltzkowi'', ''Spinivorticella voeltzkowi'', ''Cataulacus voeltzkowi'', '' Pteropus voeltzkowi'', ''Leucochrysa voeltzkowi'', ''Oligochrysa voeltzkowi'', ''Anapochrysa voeltzkowi'', ''Lissoclinum voeltzkowi'' and the chameleon '' Furcifer voeltzkowi''.

Botany

Voeltzkow was the author of two species of plants: '' Phyllanthus boivinianus'' (Baill.) Voeltzk. in the family Euphorbiaceae and '' Toddalia unifoliata'' (Baill.) Voeltzk. in the family Rutaceae. In 1908

Paul Christoph Hennings Paul Christoph Hennings (November 27, 1841 – October 14, 1908) was a German mycologist and herbarium curator. He discovered the study of cryptogams and mushrooms as a volunteer at the botanical garden. Although circumstances initially prevent ...

named the

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

genus '' Voeltzkowiella'' (family

Bulgariaceae The Bulgariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Helotiales. Species are found in northern and southern temperate regions. The family contains four genera and seven species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a ...

) in his honor.MycoBank
Voeltzkowiella

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voeltzkow, Alfred 1860 births 1947 deaths 19th-century German zoologists Scientists from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Heidelberg University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Freiburg alumni University of Würzburg alumni 20th-century German zoologists