Heinrich Bernward Prell (11 October 1888 – 25 April 1962)Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, eds., ''Dictionary of German Biography (DGB)'', Vol. 8 (2011)
p. 65
was a German zoologist.

Biography

Heinrich Prell came from a family of artists. His father

Hermann Prell Hermann Prell (29 April 1854 – 18 May 1922) was a German history painter, sculptor and professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. Life and work He was born at Leipzig and studied under Theodor Grosse in Dresden and Karl Gussow in Berlin ...

received a professorship at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1892. After graduating from high school in 1907, Prell studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Freiburg,

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, and the University of Marburg, specializing in zoology. H. Francke-Grosmann (1962): ''Professor Dr. Heinrich B. Prell †''. In: ''Anzeiger für Schädlingskunde'' 35(8): 126–127, doi:10.1007/BF01881069. After receiving his doctorate in Marburg in 1913, with a dissertation titled ''Das Chitinskelett von Eosentomon, ein Beitrag zur Morphologie des Insektenkörpers'' ("The chitinous skeleton of Eosentomon, a contribution to the morphology of the insect body"), he worked as an assistant to

Karl Escherich Karl Leopold Escherich (18 September 1871 – 22 November 1951) was a German entomologist and professor of zoology. Known as a pioneer of applied entomology and expert in termites, he was rector of the University of Munich from 1933 to 1936. Escher ...

at the

Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry The Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry (German language, German: ''Königliche-Sächsische Forstakademie'') in Tharandt, Saxony, near Dresden, was founded by silviculture, silviculturist Heinrich Cotta in 1811. Established in conjunction with the sch ...

in Tharandt. After Escherich left Tharandt, Prell moved to the University of Tübingen with Friedrich Blochmann. In the summer of 1914, Prell presented his thesis "On the relationships between primary and secondary sexual characters in butterflies" and became a private lecturer in zoology and comparative anatomy. Among other things, he also gave lectures on fish science, fisheries and the history of the evolution of animals. After serving as a junior field doctor in the Wehrmacht's bacteriological laboratories during World War I, he was appointed associate professor at the University of Tübingen in 1919. In 1923 he accepted a position as full professor at the Forestry University of Tharandt. During this time he married the zoologist Adrienne Renée Koehler. From 1927 Prell was rector of the forestry college in Tharandt. By connecting to the Technische Hochschule Dresden in 1929 he saved the facility in Tharandt, which was threatened by austerity measures. In November 1933 he signed the commitment required of professors at the German universities and colleges to Adolf Hitler. After the end of World War II, in addition to his duties in Tharandt, Prell took over the chair for general zoology in the mathematics and natural sciences faculty in Dresden until it was replaced in 1954. He also saved the Tharandt site again. In 1951 his scientific work was honored with a membership in the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig. After retirement in 1957, he continued to hold the chair at the request of the faculty, despite several serious illnesses. During his career, Prell "co-edited the ''Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde'' and published numerous treatises, in particular on applied zoology".

Scientific fields of work

Prell's scientific work mainly involved

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 ...

. He dealt with the morphology of protura and butterflies, with viral infections in forest pests, the silk moth (''Bombyx mori'') and the honey bee (''Apis mellifera''), with bee losses due to industrial exhaust gases and with gradations of the gray larch moth (''Zeiraphera griseana'') and the Nun (''Lymantria monacha''). He also dealt with fur animal science and was a member of the special committee for fur animal breeding of the German Agricultural Society in Berlin from 1927 to 1933 and became a member of the expert committee for fur animal breeding at the Reich Center for Fur Animal and Smoked Products Research in Leipzig in 1931. He also dealt with historical zoology, with the mating and gestation periods of some wild species (deer, brown bear, some species of marten) and with the influence of components of hut smoke on the hair loss of red deer.H. Gäbler (1962): ''Prof. Dr. Heinrich Prell †''. In: ''Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft'' 8(4): 165–166, .

References

External links

*
Nachlass von Prof. Prell im Archiv der TU Dresden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prell, Heinrich 1888 births 1962 deaths Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Marburg alumni Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry alumni University of Tübingen alumni German entomologists