Herbert Girton Deignan (December 5, 1906 – March 15, 1968) was an American ornithologist who worked extensively on the birds of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Deignan was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, the son of Harry Francis and Anna Galena. He grew up in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and schooled in Mercersburg Academy before going to

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

where he graduated with an Arts Baccalaureate in 1928. He became interested in birds early on and got in contact with Charles H Rogers, curator of the Princeton collections. He became interested in Thailand (Siam) and after graduating he took up a position in the Chiangmai college in northern Siam as a teacher of English. He stayed there from 1928 to 1932, collecting birds in the region that he sent back to Charles Rogers at Princeton. 108th Meeting of the Baird Ornithological Club

108th Meeting of the Baird Ornithological Club

Deignan returned to the United States in 1932. He held a temporary assignment at the US National Museum thanks to

Alexander Wetmore Frank Alexander Wetmore (June 18, 1886 – December 7, 1978) was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Early life and education The son of a Country Physician, Frank Ale ...

. He then took a position at the Library of Congress from 1934 to 1935, and his familiarity with Asian languages helped index the catalogues of the library holdings in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and Siamese. He returned to Chiangmai to take back his position and stayed from 1935 to 1937 during which time he amassed a large collection of birds for the United States National Museum (USNM). In 1938, he was appointed Scientific Aid in the Division of Birds at the USNM. He was promoted to Assistant Curator in 1940, Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1959. Deignan retired in 1962. Deignan married Stella Leche, a physical anthropologist. Deignan became a member of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1923 and became a Life fellow in 1946 going on to serve as Secretary from 1959 to 1961. He published taxonomic revisions, collection catalogues and descriptions of birds from various parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia.

Tribute

'' Acheilognathus deignani'' was named by

Hugh McCormick Smith Hugh McCormick Smith, also H. M. Smith (November 21, 1865 – September 28, 1941) was an American ichthyologist and administrator in the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Biography Smith was born in Washington, D.C. In 1888, he received a Doc ...

in 1945, in honor of Deignan, who had collected the type specimen. Deignan is also commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Sri Lankan lizard, '' Lankascincus deignani '' named by

Edward Harrison Taylor Edward Harrison Taylor (April 23, 1889 – June 16, 1978) was an American herpetologist from Missouri. Family Taylor was born in Maysville, Missouri, to George and Loretta Taylor. He had an older brother, Eugene. Education Taylor studied at th ...

.Moonesinghe, Vinod. "The birth of the CIA". ''Daily News'' (Sri Lanka). 16 August 2012.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deignan, Herbert Girton American ornithologists 1906 births 1968 deaths Mercersburg Academy alumni Princeton University alumni Scientists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American zoologists