Johann Jakob Heckel (23 January 1790 – 1 March 1857) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

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

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

from

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

in the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...

. He worked at the Royal natural history cabinet in Vienna which later became the Austrian Museum of Natural History.

Life

Heckel was born in Mannheim, the son of a namesake music teacher and Sophia née Reinhardt. He also had a namesake brother who studied music and was educated at home and lived in Vienna for a while. Another brother was Karl Ferdinand Heckel (1800-1870) who also studied music. In 1805 the family fled the French to Pressburg and then to Pest. Heckel visited the Georgicon agricultural college in 1806. His father bought a farm in Gumpoldskirchen and after the death of his father in December 1811, his mother took over the farm, assisted by his brother. He married Barbara Baumgartner in 1817 and in 1818 he was working at the Vienna Naturaliencabinet (which later became the

Naturhistorisches Museum The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

). He studied some botany after meeting Franz Edler von Portenschlag-Ledermayer (1772–1822). He was acquainted with both Joseph Natterer Sr. (1754–1823), as well as

Joseph Natterer Joseph Natterer (7 October 1786 – 28 June 1852) was an Austrian naturalist at the Vienna natural history museum. He was the older brother of Johann Natterer Johann Natterer (9 November 1787 – 17 June 1843) was an Austrian natural history, na ...

Jr. (1786–1852). In 1819-20 he went on collecting trip in southern Europe, collecting birds for Natterer as well as plants and other specimens. He met

Eduard Rüppell Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell, also spelled Rueppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer, best known for his collections and descriptions of plants and animals from ...

(1794–1884) with whom he climbed Mount Etna. They planned to make a trip to Nubia but it never happened. Heckel developed instruments for measuring fish and some biographers have claimed that he worked briefly as a watchmaker. Though not a formally trained biologist, he worked his way up through the ranks and in 1832 he became an assistant curator. On May 6, 1835, he was given responsibility of the fish collection following the departure of Leopold J. Fitzinger. For the most part, he was not a traveler or explorer like many of the scientists of the time, he remained in Vienna, where he studied and catalogued specimens sent to him from the field. Among those who brought specimens to him were Karl Alexander Hügel, Joseph Russegger and

Theodor Kotschy Karl Georg Theodor Kotschy (15 April 1813 – 11 June 1866) was an Austrian botanist and explorer. On his botanical investigations, Kotschy collected large amounts of plants. For example, he described forty species of oak in this work, most of w ...

— involving collection activities in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and northeastern Africa that greatly enriched the Vienna museum. Fish were his specialty and he worked with many of the greatest ichthyologists of his time including

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, Bonaparte,

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

, and Troschel.Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
History of the Fish Collection In the fields of

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

and

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

, he made significant contributions in his investigations of

cyprinids Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

. He wrote more than 60 works, the most notable of which is "The freshwater fishes of the Austrian Danubian monarchy". He worked on it for more than 24 years but died before its final publication, most likely from

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

he was exposed to while getting a skeleton from a dead

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

Works

* ''Cyprinen, Scaphirhynchus und andere ichthyologica'' (1836–1840), with

Johann Natterer Johann Natterer (9 November 1787 – 17 June 1843) was an Austrian natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. He was the son of royal falconer Joseph Natterer and along with his brother Joseph Natterer (1786–1852) took a keen i ...

—

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

Scaphirhynchus ''Scaphirhynchus'' is a genus of sturgeons native to North America. All species in this genus are considered to be Threatened species, threatened with extinction or worse. As of 2023, the pallid sturgeon (''S. albus'') and the Alabama sturgeon ( ...

and other ichthyologica. * '' Fische aus Caschmir'', (1838), with Karl Alexander Hügel — Fish of Kashmir. * ''Die Süßwasserfische der österreichischen Monarchie, mit Rücksicht auf die angränzenden Länder bearbeitet'' (with 204

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with Chisel#Gouge, gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts ...

) - The

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

es of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

, processed with regard to adjacent countries, with

Rudolf Kner Rudolf Ignaz Kner (24 August 1810 – 27 October 1869) was an Austrian geologist, paleontologist, zoologist and ichthyologist. He also wrote some poems which were published by his brother-in-law K.A. Kaltenbrunner. Biography Kner was bo ...

(1858). * ''Beiträge zur kenntniss der fossilen fische Österreichs'', (1856) — Contribution to the knowledge of Austrian fossil fish. * ''Neue Beiträge zur Kenntniss der fossilen Fische Österreichs'', (1861), with Rudolf Kner — New contribution to the knowledge of Austrian fossil fish.WorldCat Search
publications

Legacy

Fish named after him include: *The

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

'' Acarichthys heckelii'' ( J. P. Müller & Troschel, 1849) was named in his honor. *The Pike Cichlid '' Crenicichla heckeli'' Ploeg, 1989 was named in his honor.

References

External links

*
Austrian Natural History Museum
at Naturhistorisches Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Heckel, Johann Jakob 1790 births 1857 deaths Zoologists from the Austrian Empire Scientists from Mannheim People from the Electoral Palatinate Taxidermists Ichthyologists Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Life

Works

Legacy

See also

References

External links