Wilhelm Otto Dietrich (30 July 1881 – 26 March 1964) was a German (later East German) paleontologist who took a special interest in the study of Tertiary and Quaternary mammals. He was a curator of paleontology at the

Natural History Museum, Berlin The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...

. Dietrich was born in

Senden The town of Senden is the second-largest town of the district of Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and is located at the border to Baden-Württemberg. The town belongs to the Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund. Senden's neighbours are Neu-Ulm in the north, Weiße ...

near Ulm to mill manager Otto and Maria née Kramer. After studying at the Ulm gymnasium he joined the Technical University at Stuttgart before transferring to the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

in 1901. He studied geology and paleontology and received a doctorate in 1903 under Ernst Koken. He studied petrology at Freburg and then worked from 1904 as an assistant to Ernst Anton Wülfing in Danzig. He developed

otosclerosis Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the stapes the bone is resorbed, then har ...

in 1907 and had to move to Switzerland for treatment but he progressively lost hearing and became completely deaf. He became an assistant at Stuttgart under

Eberhard Fraas Eberhard Fraas (26 June 1862 – 6 March 1915) was a German scientist, geologist and paleontologist. He worked as a curator at the Stuttgarter Naturaliensammlung and discovered the dinosaurs of the Tendaguru formation in then German East Afri ...

and joined an excavation at Steinheim-on-Murr where the dig discovered a giant deer and a mammoth (''Elephas primigenius''). He then took a special interest in mammals. In 1911 he worked with

Wilhelm von Branca Carl Wilhelm Franz von Branca Until 1895: Wilhelm Branco; 1895-1907: Wilhelm von Branco (9 September 1844 – 12 March 1928) was a German geologist and paleontologist. Biography Von Branca was born in Potsdam. After having been an officer, ...

at the Natural History Museum in Berlin where he later became a curator. He retired in 1959 but continued to work and during World War II he and his wife lived in the basement of the museum. He died from pneumonia in 1964. Dietrich married Lotte Trendelenburg, daughter of a privy councillor, in 1921 and their only son died at the front during World War II. He was awarded a Hans Stille Medal in 1957 and the silver Patriotic Order of Merit in 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, Wilhelm Otto 1881 births 1964 deaths German paleontologists Deaths from pneumonia in Germany