João Guilherme Fischer, also known as Jango Fischer (9 September 1876 – 2 February 1952) was a Brazilian diplomat and scientist.

Biography

Jango Fischer was born in Santa Maria in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

and died on February 2, 1952, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. He was the son of Guilherme Fischer and Christina Holzbach.

Career

He studied agronomy at a school in Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul from 1894 to 1898. He then received a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

degree from the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public university, public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and r ...

. He did not follow either of these careers, but rather opted for a career in diplomacy. He was vice consul in

Cobija Cobija is a city in Bolivia, capital of the department of Pando, and is located about 600 km (373 mi.) north of La Paz in the Amazon Basin on the border with Brazil. Cobija lies on the banks of the Rio Acre across from the Brazilian ...

, Bolivia in 1909, served in the office of

Baron of Rio Branco Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...

until 1911, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1911 to 1934 and the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

from 1934 to 1944.Diário Oficial da União.
/ref> In 1902, he collected fossils at the

Sanga da Alemoa The ''Sanga da Alemoa'' paleontological site is located in the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. It belongs to the Caturrita Formation and the Santa Maria Formation. It is located in the neighborhood of ''Castelinho''. The sit ...

paleontological site which he sent to

Hermann von Ihering Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering (9 October 1850 – 24 February 1930) was a German-Brazilian zoologist. He was the oldest son of Rudolf von Jhering. Biography Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering was born in 1850 in Kiel, Germany, the old ...

, director of the

Museu Paulista The Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo, commonly known as Museu do Ipiranga, is a Brazilian history museum located near the place where Emperor Pedro I proclaimed Brazil's independence on the banks of Ipiranga brook in the Southeast ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. Three vertebral bodies were nearly complete, a fragment of a vertebra, one finger and four phalanges and ungual phalanx alone. The material was sent to

Arthur Smith Woodward Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, FRS (23 May 1864 – 2 September 1944) was an English palaeontologist, known as a world expert in fossil fish. He also described the Piltdown Man fossils, which were later determined to be fraudulent. He is not rel ...

, the eminent paleontologist of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to study, which resulted in the determination of the first terrestrial reptile fossil in South America, the

Rhynchosaur Rhynchosaurs are a group of extinct herbivorous Triassic archosauromorph reptiles, belonging to the order Rhynchosauria. Members of the group are distinguished by their triangular skulls and elongated, beak like premaxillary bones. Rhynchosaurs ...

named by Woodward, with the name of Scaphonyx fischeri, in his honor. It officially started paleontological research in Paleorrota.

References

* Book: ''Os Fascinantes Caminhos da Paleontologia.'' Author : Antônio Isaia. Publisher: Pallotti. * Book: ''Cronologia Histórica de Santa Maria e do extinto município de São Martinho.'' 1787–1933. Vol I. Author: Romeu Beltrão, Publisher: Pallotti, 1958. 1876 births 1952 deaths Brazilian diplomats Brazilian scientists People from Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul {{Brazil-scientist-stub