František Vejdovský (24 October 1849 in

Kouřim Kouřim (; ) is a town in Kolín District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Kouřim ...

– 4 December 1939 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and served as an influential professor of zoology at

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

from 1892 to 1921. Vejdovsky was born in

and educated at a Latin school and then at Charles University. He received his doctorate in 1876 and habilitated in 1877 while working under Antonin Frič. He worked as a lecturer in zoology at the college of technology and became a professor of zoology, comparative anatomy and embryology in 1892. He served as a professor until his retirement in 1921. In 1886 he discovered the centrosome in animal cells. He studied mainly the invertebrate groups and was an influential teacher. His students included Jiří Janda, Emil Bayer, Bohumil Némec, František Karel Studnička, Karel Sulc, and Jan Zavřel. In 1895 he served as rector magnificus of Charles University. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge during the Darwin centenary celebrations in 1909. In 2007 the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

ruled that the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Tubificidae The Naididae (including the former family Tubificidae) are a family of clitellate oligochaete worms like the sludge worm, '' Tubifex tubifex''. They are key components of the benthic communities of many freshwater and marine ecosystems. In fr ...

" was a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

Naididae The Naididae (including the former family Tubificidae) are a family (biology), family of clitellate oligochaete worms like the sludge worm, ''Tubifex tubifex''. They are key components of the benthic communities of many freshwater and ocean, mar ...

. He was the first biologist to distinguish between

nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...

s and gordiids when he named a group to contain the horsehair worms the order

Nematomorpha Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size f ...

. In 1919, Nathan Cobb proposed that nematodes should be recognized alone as a phylum and Nematomorphs were recognized as their own phylum.

References

1849 births 1939 deaths Scientists from Bohemia Czech zoologists Academic staff of Charles University People from Kolín District Zoologists from Austria-Hungary {{biologist-stub