Vinzenz Maria Gredler (30 September 1823, in
Telfs
Telfs is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol, west of Innsbruck. It is the third largest municipality in Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical regio ...
near
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
– 4 May 1912, in
Bozen
Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
) was an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
naturalist.
Gredler, who was a
Dominican friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
, first studied
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
(1835–1841) then
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
(1842–1848). He then studied
natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s at the
Gymnasium in
Halle (1848–1849). Without other qualifications, he succeeded in gaining a natural history diploma. He then served as director of the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Gymnasium in Bozen from 1849 to 1901.
Gredler wrote 338 publications on various subjects:
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
,
mineralogy
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
,
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 ...
,
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, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
(mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, insects), art, anthropology, history, etc. He made numerous excursions in the
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
and had a rich natural history collection with the aid of the other seminarists and his pupils. This is today conserved in the museum of the Gymnasium of Bolzano (or Museo Tirolese di Scienze Naturali del Ginnasio dei Padri Francescani).
The scientific journal "''Gredleriana''" is named in his honor.
Gredleriana
OCLC WorldCat
Bibliography
* Gredler V. M. 1853. ''Bemerkungen über einige Conchylien der Gattungen Pupa und Pomatias''. Programm des Gymnasiums von Bozen 3: 45-52.
* Gredler V. 1856. ''Tirol’s Land- und Süsswasser-Conchylien I. Die Landconchylien.''. Verhandlungen des Zoologisch-Botanischen Vereins in Wien, (Abhandlungen) 6: 25-162, 2 tables, Bozen.
* 1856. ''Die Ameisen Tirol’s''. Bozen
* 1863. ''Die Käfer von Tirol nach ihrer horizontalen und vertikalen Verbreitung''. Bozen.
* 1868. ''Die Urgletscher-Moränen aus dem Eggenthale''. Bozen.
* Gredler V. 1877. ''Mittheilungen aus dem Gebiete der Malakozoologie''. Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft 9 (1): 1-6. Frankfurt am Main.
* 1893. ''Zur Conchylien-Fauna von China''. Bozen.
* 1895. ''Die Porphyre der Umgebung von Bozen und ihre mineralogischen Einschlüsse''. Bozen
References
*Cesare Conci et Roberto Poggi (1996), ''Iconography of Italian Entomologists, with essential biographical data''. Memorie della Società entomologica Italiana, 75 : 159-382.
*Pietro Lorenzi & Silvio Bruno (2002). Uomini, storie, serpenti contributi alla storiografia erpetologica del Trentino-Alto Adige e Dintorni. ''Annali del Museo Civico di Rovereto'', 17 : 173-274.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gredler, Vinzeze Maria
1823 births
1912 deaths
People from Innsbruck-Land District
Austrian naturalists
19th-century Austrian zoologists
19th-century Austrian botanists
Austrian entomologists