Eugene Amandus Schwarz (April 21, 1844 – October 15, 1928) was a German-American

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

who specialized in the study of

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

(Coleoptera). He was a popular and influential employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than fifty years.

Biography

Schwarz was born on April 21, 1844, in Liegnitz, Silesia, part of Prussia at that time. His father, Amandus Schwarz, was a cloth merchant and member of the Common Council of Liegnitz. Schwarz studied zoology and entomology at the universities in Breslau and Leipzig and served briefly in the Prussian medical corp during the Franco-Prussian War. Fearing to tell his parents that he had decided upon a career in entomology, Schwarz secretly emigrated to the United States in 1872. Based on a recommendation from

Gustav Kraatz Ernst Gustav Kraatz (13 March 1831 – 2 November 1909) was a German entomologist. He collected and described numerous beetles including Staphylinidae. Kraatz was born in Berlin on 13 March 1831. He studied law in the University of Heidelberg a ...

, a famous German entomologist, he was hired by

Hermann August Hagen Hermann August Hagen (30 May 1817 – 9 November 1893) was a German entomologist who specialised in Neuroptera and Odonata. He had established himself as one of Europe's preeminent entomologists by 1867 when he accepted a position at Harvard Unive ...

to work in the

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He also attended lectures by Hagen and

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

. When Aggasiz died in 1873, the museum had financial difficulties and Schwarz chose to quit his position and look elsewhere for work. While at Harvard, Schwarz had met Henry Guernsey Hubbard who was to become a life-long friend and collaborator. In 1874 they traveled to Detroit and stayed for a time to collect beetles in the region and establish the Detroit Scientific Association. In 1875 they made a collecting expedition through Florida. Upon their return, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

was meeting in Detroit and Schwarz had the opportunity to meet many of the leading American entomologists including

John Lawrence LeConte John Lawrence LeConte (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomologist of the 19th century, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime,

and

Charles Valentine Riley Charles Valentine Riley (18 September 1843 – 14 September 1895) was a British-born American entomologist and artist. He was one of the first individuals to use biological pest control and authored over 2,400 publications. He convinced Congress ...

. In the summer of 1877 he and Hubbard traveled through the region of Lake Superior and made a very large collection of beetles, the basis of their publication, ''The Coleoptera of Michigan'' (1879). Later, Schwarz joined LeConte on a collecting expedition to the American West. In 1878, he obtained a post with the Department of Agriculture, a function he kept until his death in 1928. He exercised a great influence on many American entomologists. He was a founding member of the

Entomological Society of Washington The Entomological Society of Washington was organized on February 29, 1884 at a meeting called by three entomologists employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Charles Valentine Riley, Eugene Amandus Schwarz, and Leland Ossian Howard, in Ril ...

and in 1916 was made an honorary president for life. He was also an active member of the

Washington Biologists’ Field Club Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

. He played a very important role in the organisation of the insect collections of the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

Works

Schwarz published 395 articles during his lifetime, including: *'' Coleoptera of Florida'' (1878) (w. LeConte) *''Coleoptera of Michigan'' (1879) (w. Hubbard) *''North American Publications on Entomology'' (1891) *''Coleoptera of the Harriman Alaska Expedition'' (1900)

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Eugene Amandus American entomologists Coleopterists Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Harvard University alumni 1844 births 1928 deaths