Hermann Fischer-Sigwart (23 March 1842 – 23 July 1925) was a Swiss naturalist and conservationist who was a pharmacist by profession. He wrote several books on natural history and founded a museum in his hometown

Zofingen Zofingen (french: Zofingue) is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement. History In ancient times Zofingen was a settleme ...

. Fischer-Sigwart was educated at Zofingen and then worked in his father's pharmacy as an apprentice. He then worked at the Karlsruhe pharmacy and studies at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

where he was influenced by the botanist

Matthias Jacob Schleiden Matthias Jakob Schleiden (; 5 April 1804 – 23 June 1881) was a German botanist and co-founder of cell theory, along with Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow. Career Matthias Jakob Schleiden was born in Hamburg. on 5 April 1804. His father was ...

. He then worked in Neuchatel, followed by the Golden Pharmacy in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and then returned to manage his father's business in Zofingen. In 1903 he sold off his business and went to live in Rebberg where he was in close contact with nature. He began to make collections of specimens, and maintained terrariums with reptiles and amphibians. He published several notes from his observations. His studies led to an honorary doctorate in 1896 from the University of Zurich. This also led to his founding a museum of natural history in Zofinger. He published several popular articles and some books including "Tierleben im Aquarium" (animal life in the aquarium), "Betrachtungen über Amphibien und Reptilien" (reflections on amphibians and reptiles) and "Das Gebirge als Rückzugsgebiet für die Tierwelt" (mountains as a retreat for animals). He was involved in conservation of the Swiss wilderness. He was one of the founders of the Schweizerische Naturschutzkommission along with

Paul Sarasin Paul Sarasin, full name Paul Benedict Sarasin (11 December 1856 – 7 April 1929) was a Swiss people, Swiss naturalist and ethnologist. He is known as founder of National parks in Switzerland.Albert Heim Albert Heim (12 April 184931 August 1937) was a Swiss geologist, noted for his three-volume ''Geologie der Schweiz''. Born in Zürich, he was educated at Zürich and Berlin universities. Very early in life he became interested in the physical fe ...

Hans Schardt Hans Schardt (18 June 1858 – 3 February 1931) was a Swiss geologist and a professor at the University of Neuchâtel and at the ETH and the University of Zurich. He contributed to studies on the folding and movement of layers of the earth based ...

, Carl Schroter, Ernest Wiczek, and Friedrich Zschokke.

References

External links

Fauna Helvetica. Heft 5. Reptilien und Amphibien (1898) by Fischer-Sigwart
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer-Sigwart, Hermann Swiss naturalists 1842 births 1925 deaths