Samuel Friedrich Nathaniel Ritter von Stein (November 3, 1818 – January 9, 1885) was a German

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. He was Professor at the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry in

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta in 181 ...

from 1850–55; and Professor, and later Rector, at the

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

, from 1855–76. His scientific work focused on invertebrates, and mainly on ''

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advance ...

''.

Early life, education, and family

Stein was born in Niemegk, near

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. He completed his studies in 1841, conducting doctoral work at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. On May 29, 1844, in Berlin, he married Emma Johanne Couard Ottilie (born December 30, 1823, in Berlin; died 2 September 1903, in Asch). The couple had nine children. The next to last, daughter Adelheid von Stein (born May 25, 1859), married Joseph Neuwirth.

Career

Stein's scientific work focused on invertebrates, and mainly on ''Diptera'', as well as single-celled animals. His work on ''

infusoria Infusoria is a word used to describe various freshwater microorganisms, including ciliates, copepods, Euglena, euglenoids, planktonic crustaceans, protozoa, unicellular algae and small invertebrates. Some authors (e.g., Otto Bütschli, Bütschli) ...

'' became the basis for all subsequent research in this area.Assessment of the Dresden University of Technology. See: (in German). Stein was appointed as Curator of the Zoological Museum at the University of Berlin, in 1849. From 1850 to 1855, he was professor of zoology and botany at the Academy of Forestry in Tharandt,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, 20 km south-west of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Tharandt had one of the leading forestry schools in Germany. Formal education in forestry began about 1840 when private forestry schools were established. These were the outgrowth of the old master schools. The forestry college at Tharandt developed from Cotta Master School. Though not of the same order, Tharandt had close connections with the French National School of Forestry, which had been established in

Nancy, France Nancy is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, annexed by France under King Louis X ...

, in 1825. The work at Tharandt, under Stein's supervision was of a very high order, thoroughly professional and of very high technical standards. In 1855, he became professor at the

, where he worked until retirement. He served as Rector of the university in the 1875–76 academic year.

Honors

Stein was ennobled on April 27, 1878, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

by Emperor Franz Josef I.

Works

* , Berlin: Brandes et Klewert, 1841 * , Berlin: Reimer, 1850 * , Leipzig: Engelmann, 1854 * , Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann ** , 1859 ** , 1867 ** ***, 1878 *** , 1883 * , Vienna: Staatsdruckerei, 1863

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Samuel Friedrich German entomologists 1818 births 1885 deaths Scientists from the Province of Brandenburg Dipterists Academic staff of Charles University Forestry in Germany History of forestry education Academic staff of the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry