Jørgen Jacob Scheel (born

Randers Municipality Randers Municipality is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 96,559 (as of 1 April 2014). Its mayor, since 1 January ...

9 February 1916, died 13 April 1989) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

aristocrat, soldier, explorer and

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

. His father was Jørgen Carl Scheel (1874-1944) and his mother was Erikka Ellen Estrup (1891-1960); his parents married in 1912. He was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

in the Marie Magdalene Church in Sønderhald. Scheel was a

landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

of the Danish aristocracy. Scheel joined the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

as a Sekonløjtnant in the infantry in 1939, being promoted to Løjtnant in the Royal Life Guards in the same year. In 1939 he also married Anne-Sophie Emerentze Gyldenkrone in Copenhagen on 15 July. They had four children Suzanne, Anne Beate, Christiane and Christian Detlev. In 1954 he was a Kaptajn in the Guards and he ended his military career as an

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

in command of Denmark's Defence Motor School. Scheel is best known for his activities as an

aquarist An aquarist is a person who manages aquariums, either professionally or as a hobby. They typically care for aquatic animals, including fish and marine invertebrates. Some may care for aquatic mammals. Aquarists often work at public aquariums. They ...

and

. He did much to promote the hobby of fish keeping in Denmark and beyond and wrote a number of books on the subject. He also undertook a number of expeditions, often funded by the

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation ( da, Carlsbergfondet) was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace. ...

. On these expeditions Scheel discovered many new species of fish, especially

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

es, which he described. He was an honorary member of many aquarium societies in Denmark and elsewhere and was given an honorary doctorate by the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

in 1973. The African killifish ''

Fundulopanchax scheeli The emerald aphyosemion (''Fundulopanchax scheeli'') is a species of killifish, endemic to the lower Cross River basin in Nigeria. It is a coastal rainforest fish which lives in small streams and ponds. It prefers a temperature of around , and a ...

'' is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheel, Jorgen Jacob Danish military personnel Danish ichthyologists 1916 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Danish zoologists