Lajos Méhelÿ (August 24, 1862 – February 4, 1953) was a Hungarian

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

, professor, and prolific author. He is one of the greatest, but also one of the most controversial, personalities in the history of Hungarian

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

because of his Social Darwinist and racialist publications. He had been a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences but renounced his membership. Besides his zoological work he increasingly dedicated his life to the Hungarian racial theory and

Turanism Turanism, also known as pan-Turanianism, pan-Turanism, or simply Turan, is a pseudoscientific pan-nationalist cultural and political movement proclaiming the need for close cooperation or political unification between people who are claimed by ...

. As a result, he was imprisoned after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and spent his punishment as a war criminal against the people until his death in old age.

Life

Méhelÿ was born in Kisfalud-Szögi (today: ''Bodrogkisfalud''). His father served as a bailiff on the Dessewffy estates in Zemplén then Sáros County. He started elementary school in his birthplace then finished fourth grade in Kassa (today: ''Kosice,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

''). He began the first class of grammar school in

Eperjes Eperjes is a village in Szentes District of Csongrád County, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single ...

(today: ''Prešov, Slovakia'') but graduated from Lőcse (today: ''Levoča, Slovakia''). He studied

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, and

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). After finishing his studies he worked as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

beside János Kriesch, one of his former teachers. After that he taught in Brassó (today: ''

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

'') between 1885 and 1896. Here were born his first great works. From 1896 to 1915 he worked for the Department of Zoology in the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is not to ...

, and he was the director of the collection of mounted specimens for the last three years. This position was exchanged for his academic teacher's desk until his retirement in 1932. He taught general zoology and

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

at the Department of Zoology of the

Pázmány Péter Catholic University Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPCU) ( hu, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem (''PPKE'')) is a private university in and near Budapest, Hungary, belonging to the Catholic Church and recognized by the state. Founded in 1635, the PPCU is ...

. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) between 1899 and 1931. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he expanded his Darwinist approach to the

human sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...

and started dealing with racialist biology. He had devoted his life to this idea, increasingly tightened into the background his former zoological activity. After WW2 he was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

by a People's Tribunal in 1945. He died in 1953.

Herpetology

While at the Hungarian National Museum, Méhelÿ studied

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

and

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. He described several new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s, and seven new species of

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s.The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. The

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mehelya ''Mehelya'' is a genus name of colubrid snakes from Africa. Some species formerly assigned to the genus ''Mehelya'' are now found in the genera '' Gonionotophis'', '' Gracililima'', or '' Limaformosa''. They are collectively called file snakes ...

'' was named in his honor.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehely, Lajos 1862 births 1953 deaths Hungarian zoologists Hungarian herpetologists Hungarian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Hungary Hungarian people convicted of war crimes Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Hungarian Turanism Hungarian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Hungarian detention