Theodore K. Lorenz or Fyodor Karlovich Lorenz (russian: Федор Карлович Лоренц; 15 March 1842 – 5 October 1909) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and a taxidermist of repute who worked in Moscow. For his exceptional artistic specimen preparations, he was called the "Stradivarius of taxidermy". Lorenz was born in Vilyun, now in Poland. His father was a textile specialist from Saxony who moved to the Russian Empire where Lorenz grew up. He was educated at home and after studying three years at school he began to work from the age of 16 in a music company. His father later moved to the Bogorodsk district where Lorenz enjoyed hunting excursions and began to work on taxidermy. He worked briefly, following his father's business, in dyeing. He then became a specimen preparator and participated in the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition of 1872. He worked as a taxidermist in the

Zoological Garden A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

of the Imperial University in Moscow. He trained Aleksandr Kots and worked with many zoologists and trained a number of taxidermists. He explored the Caucasus and Kirghizistan as part of faunal surveys and was a specialist on the birdlife of the region. He became an expert on the biology of the black grouse. He also took an interest in hybridization and plumage variation. A number of his specimens were made for the Darwin Museum. Lorenz was an authority on Tetraonidae and Phasianidae and an illustrated monograph on the grouse was published posthumously in 1910. Lorenz is buried in the Vyedenskiye Gory cemetery in Moscow. A species of snake, ''Ramphotyphlops lorenzi'', is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Lorenz, T. K.", p. 160).

Works

Partial list (all in German): *"''Azure Tit, Die Lazurmeise'', Parus cyanus". ''Journal of Ornithology, Journal für Ornithologie'' (1871) *''Beitrag zur Kentniss der Ornithologischen Fauna an der Nordseite des Kaukasus'' (Moscow, 1887) *"''Briefliches über zwei neue Fasanen-Abarten'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 36: 571–572. (1888) *"''Ein neur Bastard'' - Chrysomitris spinus x Acanthis linaria". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 38: 98-100. (1890) *"''Die Vögel des Moskauer Gouvernements'' ". ''Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou'' 6: 263–321. (1893) – 7: 337–354. (1894) – 8: 325–350. (1895) *"''Über'' Tetrao tetrix subspec. viridianus". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 39: 366–368. (1891) *"''Einiges über den von Herrn V. v. Tschudi beschriebenen seltenen Rackelhahn'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 39: 405–412. (1891) *"''Wiederum Einiges über Rackelwild und Hahnenfedrigkeit'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 42: 416–425. (1894) *"Phasianus mongolicus turcestanicus, nov. subspec". ''Ornith. Mber.'' 4: 189-191 .(1895)

References

External links

Virtuoso of Taxidermy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenz, Theodore K Lorenz German emigrants to the Russian Empire Ornithologists from the Russian Empire Explorers from the Russian Empire 1842 births 1909 deaths