Felix Kopstein (4 June 1893,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 14 April 1939,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

) was an Austrian-Dutch physician and naturalist, known for his work in the field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

. From 1913 to 1920, he studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and medicine at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, during which time he made the acquaintanceship of

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 ...

Otto von Wettstein. In 1914 he collected herpetofauna specimens in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. From 1921 onward, he was assigned as a physician in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, being based on the island of

Amboina Amboyna or amboina may refer to: * ''Amboyna'' (play), a play by John Dryden *Amboyna massacre, in 1623 in Indonesia * Amboina box turtle (''Cuora amboinensis''), of Asia * Amboina king parrot (''Alisterus amboinensis''), of Indonesia * ''Amboyn ...

, from where he made several zoological excursions to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and throughout the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

. In 1924 he transferred to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, being employed at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

, while in the meantime conducting studies of lizards and snakes native to the island. His name is associated with Kopstein's bronzeback snake ('' Dendrelaphis kopsteini'' ) as well as Kopstein's emo skink ('' Emoia jakati''), a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

described by Kopstein in 1926.Google Books
The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson Also, through a trilingual play on words, he is honored in the specific name of another skink, '' Sphenomorphus capitolythos'', in the following way: ''capito'' + ''lythos'' (Greek) = "head" + "stone" (English) = ''Kopf'' + ''Stein'' (German). Frog '' Callulops kopsteini'', also known as Kopstein's callulops frog, is named for him.

Written works

* ''Zoologische Tropenreise mit Kamera und Feldstecher durch die Indo-Australische Tierwelt'', 1928 – Zoological tropical journeys (with camera & binoculars for the study of Indo-Australian wildlife). * "Observations on the venomous effect of ''Naja bungarus''", published in 1929 in English. * ''De Javaansche gifslangen en haar beteekenis voor den mensch'', 1930. * ''Een zoologische reis door de tropen'' (ca. 1930). * "The Javanese black cobra", published in 1930 in English. * "Collected papers eprints of Felix Kopstein, (1923–1938, in English).WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by Felix Kopstein

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopstein, Felix 1893 births 1939 deaths University of Vienna alumni Scientists from Vienna Austrian herpetologists 20th-century Austrian zoologists Emigrants from Austria to the Dutch East Indies