Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. Cabanis was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

to an old Huguenot family who had moved from France. Little is known of his early life. He studied at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

from 1835 to 1839, and then travelled to North America, returning in 1841 with a large natural history collection. He was assistant and later director of the Natural History Museum of Berlin (which was at the time the Berlin University Museum), taking over from

Martin Lichtenstein Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist. Biography Born in Hamburg, Lichtenstein was the son of Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein. He studied medicine ...

. He founded the ''

Journal für Ornithologie The ''Journal of Ornithology'' (formerly ''Journal für Ornithologie'') is a scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft. It was founded by Jean Cabanis in 1853, becoming the o ...

'' in 1853, editing it for the next forty-one years, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law Anton Reichenow. He died in

Friedrichshagen Friedrichshagen () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick. History The colony of ''Friedrichsgnade'' was founded on May 29, 1753 ...

. A number of birds are named after him, including Cabanis's bunting ''Emberiza cabanisi'', Cabanis's spinetail ''Synallaxis cabanisi'',

Azure-rumped tanager The azure-rumped tanager or Cabanis's tanager (''Poecilostreptus cabanisi'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is a local resident in humid broadleaf forests and adjacent plantations of the Pacific slope of western Guatemala and s ...

''Poecilostreptus cabanisi'' and Cabanis's greenbul ''Phyllastrephus cabanisi''.

References

1816 births 1906 deaths German ornithologists Scientists from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Journal of Ornithology editors {{ornithologist-stub