Eugen Schuhmacher (actually Eugen Josef Robert Schuhmacher) (4 August 1906 – 8 January 1973) was a German zoologist and pioneer of animal documentaries. Besides

Bernhard Grzimek Bernhard Klemens Maria Grzimek (; 24 April 1909 – 13 March 1987) was a German zoo director, zoologist, book author, editor, and animal conservationist in postwar West Germany. Biography Early years and education Grzimek was born in Neisse (N ...

and

Heinz Sielmann Heinz Sielmann (2 June 1917 – 6 October 2006) was a German wildlife photographer, biologist, zoologist and documentary filmmaker. Early life Heinz's father was physician Paul Sielmann. His first film, in 1938, was a silent movie on bird life ...

he belongs to the German wildlife documentary filmmakers with an international reputation.

Biography

Eugen Schuhmacher was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His career began in the early 1930s with educational and cultural shortfilms about the wildlife in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

. In the next four decades he made documentaries (feature length and shortfilms) about animals, the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

culture, and the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, South America and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. This movies were awarded at festivals in

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 ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. His movie ''Natur in Gefahr'' (Nature in Danger) from 1952 is an alerting report of the destruction of the nature paradises and the extinction of species. His feature film '' In the Shadow of the Karakoram'' (Im Schatten des Karakorum) received the German Film Prize for best documentary in 1955. In 1958 he discovered the German television for his work and he made one of the first German television series about endangered species. 37 episodes of ''On the Track of rare Animals'' (Auf den Spuren seltener Tiere) were shot, a series which has taken the audience on a journey to Galapagos, Papua New Guinea,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and other exotic places. This series was very popular in German television. In 1966 he finished his movie project '' The Last Paradises: On the Track of Rare Animals'', a film which had taken seven years to make. It was awarded at the Mountain Film Festival at

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

in 1967. Schuhmacher has died at age 66 of cancer in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. His last movie ''Europas Paradiese'' (Europe's paradises) had its premiere after his death. He was awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Cherry Kearton Medal and Award The Cherry Kearton Medal and Award is an honour bestowed by the Royal Geographical Society on "a traveller concerned with the study or practice of natural history, with a preference for those with an interest in nature photography, art or cinemato ...

in 1971.

Selected movies

*1955: ''Im Schatten des Karakorum'' *1967: '' The Last Paradises: On the Track of Rare Animals'' (Die letzten Paradiese) *1973: ''Europas Paradiese''

Selected books

*1968: The Last of the Wild: On the track of Rare animals (with Gwynne Vevers ; Winwood Reade), Collins, London, 1968 *1968: The Last Paradises: On the track of Rare animals, DOUBLEDAY & CO, INC. New York *1970: Alaska: Vast Land on the Edge of the Arctic (with Heinrich Gohl), Kümmerly & Frey Geographical Publishers, Berne, Switzerland

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schuhmacher, Eugen 1906 births 1973 deaths Film people from Stuttgart German documentary filmmakers