Wilhem de Haan (7 February 1801 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– 15 April 1855 in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

) was a Dutch

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, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

. He specialised in the study of insects and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, and was the first keeper of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s at the Rijksmuseum in

, now

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Alth ...

. He was forced to retire in 1846, when he was partially

paralysed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

by a spinal disease. He was responsible for the invertebrate volume of

Siebold Siebold or von Siebold is a German surname: * Carl Caspar von Siebold (1736–1807), surgeon * Regina von Siebold (1771–1849), obstetrician * Adam Elias von Siebold (1775–1828), medical doctor * Charlotte von Siebold (1788–1859), gynaecol ...

's '' Fauna Japonica'', which was published in 1833, and introduced the western world for the first time to

Japanese wildlife The wildlife of Japan includes its flora, fauna, and natural habitats. The islands of Japan stretch a long distance from north to south and cover a wide range of climatic zones. This results in a high diversity of wildlife despite Japan's isolati ...

. He named a great many new taxa, and several taxa are named in his honour. He published significant work on both mantids and phasmids (1842).

References

*de Haan, W. ''Bijdragen tot de Kennis Orthoptera.'' in C.J. Temminck, ''Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen.'' volume 2.(1842) *

External links

Fauna Japonica online
– de Haan's work begins on the 36th page. 1801 births 1855 deaths Dutch biologists Dutch zoologists Dutch lepidopterists Dutch carcinologists Scientists from Amsterdam People from Leiden Leiden University alumni {{netherlands-scientist-stub