Georges Meyer-Darcis, full name Georg Gottlieb August Meyer-Darcis (or Meyer Darcis) (12 September 1860 in

Wohlen Wohlen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History The earliest known settlements in Wohlen date from the late Hallstatt era (600-500 BC). This settlement left two clusters of burial moun ...

– 3 January 1913 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

botanist 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Georges Meyer-Darcis was the son of a world-famous straw goods manufacturer (Sogin & Meyer). From 1875 to 1878 he was educated in the Technical Department of the cantonal school in

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

. Encouraged by Professor Mühlberg, he collected rare plants and insects with his friend Samuel Döbeli. After a commercial apprenticeship in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, he managed the straw goods factory. In Geneva, he collected insects in his spare time, encouraged by the curator of the Entomological collections of the University of Geneva Dr.

Emil Frey-Gessner Emil Frey-Gessner (19 March 1826, in Aarau – 24 July 1917, in Genf) was a Swiss entomologist. At first Emil Frey-Gessner studied mechanical engineering and was until 1865 technical director in the Frey-Gessner family cotton mill. Later he studied ...

(1826–1917). In addition to his own collections, he purchased world Coleoptera and plant collections, including one by Johann Luzi Krättli (1812–1903), which he then presented to the Botanical Museum of the University of Zurich. Some parts of his beetle collection were sold to the French entomologist René Oberthür and are now preserved in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.

References

*Doebeli, S. 1914: eyer-Darcis, G.''Mitt. Schweiz. Ent. Ges., Bern'' 12 910-1917: 313-316. *Groll, E. K. (Hrsg.): ''Biografien der Entomologen der Welt'' : Datenbank. Version 4.15 : Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, 201

Collection repository details (specimens held by museums). *Cambefort, Y. 2006. ''Des coléoptères, des collections et des hommes''. Paris: Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, collection « Archives ».

External links

Zurich Herbaria
Swiss entomologists 19th-century Swiss botanists 1913 deaths 1860 births 20th-century Swiss botanists {{entomologist-stub