Anton Polenec (7 October 1910 – 30 October 2000) was a Slovene

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 specialist

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of sp ...

. Polenec was born in

Puštal Puštal (; german: Burgstall''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 64.) is a settlement on the right bank of the Sora River in the Municipali ...

near

Škofja Loka Škofja Loka (; german: Bischoflack) is a town in Slovenia. It is the economic, cultural, educational, and administrative center of the Municipality of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Geography Škofja Loka lies a ...

in 1910. He studied at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

and later taught zoology and was head of the

Natural History Museum of Slovenia The Slovenian Museum of Natural History ( sl, Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, la, Museum Historiae Naturalis Sloveniae) is a Slovenian national museum with natural history, scientific, and educational contents. It is the oldest cultural and scien ...

from 1955 to 1980. He studied and described over 500 species of

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s including a new genus '' Centrophantes''. The spider genus '' Polenecia'' is named after Polenec. Apart from scientific contributions he also wrote numerous

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

books for young readers and won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award ( sl, Levstikova nagrada) is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established ...

twice, in 1950 for his book ''Iz življenja žuželk'' (The Lives of Insects) and in 1952 for ''Iz življenja pajkov'' (The Life of Spiders).

References

1910 births 2000 deaths Slovenian zoologists Arachnologists Levstik Award laureates University of Ljubljana alumni Yugoslav zoologists People from the Municipality of Škofja Loka {{zoologist-stub