Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at :fr:Gaston-François de Witte; see its history for attribution. Gaston-François de Witte (12 June 1897,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

– 1 June 1980,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

herpetologist 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 ...

who discovered and described at least 24 different

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 ...

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. During his career, he was associated with the

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

(from 1920) and the

Museum of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium (french: Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique, nl, Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België) is a museum dedicated to natural history, located in Brussels, Belgium. The museum is a part of t ...

in Brussels (from 1937). He is best known for his research of amphibians and reptiles found in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, from where he collected thousands of specimens. While in central Africa, he also collected

botanical 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 ...

specimens.

Biography

Gaston-François de Witte was the son of Henry de Witte and Jeanne della Faine de Leverghem, and the grand-son of

Jean de Witte Baron Jean Joseph Antoine Marie de Witte (24 February 1808, Antwerp - 29 July 1889, Paris) was a Belgian archeologist, epigraphist and numismatist. He collaborated with François Lenormant in founding the Gazette archéologique at the Biblioth� ...

. As a child, he already liked

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

. During his scholarship at the Bénédictins of the Abbaye de Maredsours, Gaston-François met the british zoologist

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

, who came to study fossils from Denée. They became friends and Boulenger encouraged de Witte to study reptiles. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, de Witte fled to Boulenger's house in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. There, he learned English. He worked at the

British Museum of Natural history The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

where Boulenger taught him technical preparations of zoological collections. On 9 February 1916, de Witte enlisted himself voluntarily. After the war, he studied at the Free University of Bruxelles. There, he would get his PhD. In 1920, he was temporarily associated with the

of Tervuren, to replace, between 1920-1921,

Henri Schouteden Henri Schouteden (9 July 1881, Brussels – 15 November 1972, Brussels) was a Belgian zoologist, ornithologist and entomologist who undertook numerous expeditions into the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. Works (All in French) *Schouteden, H. (1912). ...

. In 1922, he married Marguerite del Marmol. From November 1924 to September 1925, he went, partially with the company of Schouteden, on a trip to explore the

. He brought back specimens, mostly snakes and fish, but also an ethnographic ensemble and many photos, leaving everything to the Museum of the Belgian Congo. Nominated in 1927 as a definitive member, after

Jean-Marie Derscheid Jean-Marie Eugène Derscheid (May 19, 1901, Sterrebeek – March 13, 1944) was a Belgian zoologist who focused much of his professional interest on Africa. He was a world expert on breeding exotic waterfowl in captivity, authored scientific art ...

left, he became in 1936 head of the

zoology 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

entomology Entomology () is the science, 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 ...

sections. From August 1930 to September 1931, he went on a mission to Katanga, finding zoological and botanical specimens, but also cultural artifacts. From August 1933 to 26 July 1935, he explored the Parc national Albert in the Congo, in the region of

Kivu Kivu was the name for a large "region" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" ("Sous-Régions" in French): Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, correspondin ...

Honorifics

*Médaille de la Victoire 1914-1918 (28 septembre 1919) *Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1914-1918 (28 septembre 1919) *Chevalier de l’Ordre de Léopold II (25 décembre 1926) *Chevalier de l’Ordre royal du Lion (8 avril 1938) *Chevalier de l’Ordre de Léopold (8 avril 1946) *Médaille civique de Première Classe (6 juin 1946) *Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold II (5 mars 1952) *Commandeur de l’Ordre royal du Lion (18 octobre 1958) *Grand Officier de l’Ordre de Léopold (8 avril 1965) He has also been welcomed by foreign societies. *Honorary Foreign Member of the

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) is an international learned society devoted to the scientific studies of ichthyology (study of fish) and herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians). The primary emphases of the ...

(1946) *Member of the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature (1958) *Honorary Life Member of the Herpetological African Association (1968) He has also been awarded the Prix Selys Longchamps (septième période: 1936-1941) from the Classe des Sciences de l’Académie royale de Belgique.

Eponymy

*"Witte's beaked snake", '' Letheobia wittei'', described by Mme. Rolande Roux-Estève in 1974. *"Witte's five-toed skink", '' Leptosiaphos dewittei'', circumscribed by

Arthur Loveridge Arthur Loveridge (28 May 1891 – 16 February 1980) was a British biologist and herpetologist who wrote about animals in East Africa, particularly Tanzania, and New Guinea. He gave scientific names to several gecko species in the region. Arthur ...

in 1934. *"Witte's spider gecko", ''Agamura misonnei'', synonymous with '' Rhinogekko misonnei'' (Misonne's spider gecko), described by de Witte in 1973.The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles
by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson. ("De Witte", p. 71; "Witte", p. 288).

Selected works

* ''Batraciens et reptiles'', 1930. * ''Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains. Genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus et formes affines'', 1947. * ''Amphibiens et reptiles'', 1948. * ''Genera des serpents du Congo et du Ruanda-Urundi'', 1962 – Genera of snakes of the Congo and

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

. * ''Les caméléons de l'Afrique centrale : république démocratique du Congo, République du Rwanda et Royaume du Burundi''. 1965 –

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

s of central Africa; the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. the Republic of

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and the Kingdom of

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

.OCLC Classify
(published works).

References

Belgian herpetologists 1897 births 1980 deaths Scientists from Antwerp 20th-century Belgian zoologists {{Belgium-scientist-stub