Oldřich Marek (3 April 1911 – 26 December 1986) 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 ...

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 ...

and teacher. He was a member of Czechoslovak entomological society 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 ...

starting in 1940.

Life

Oldřich Marek was born on 3 April 1911 in

Ústí nad Orlicí Ústí nad Orlicí (; ) is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument z ...

. He attended primary school in

Dolní Čermná Dolní Čermná () is a market town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 inhabitants. Administrative division Dolní Čermná consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population accor ...

and secondary school in

Česká Třebová Česká Třebová (; ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Mon ...

. After completing secondary school he left for

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

to become a primary school teacher in Smolník,

Stakčín Stakčín (, ) is a larger village and a municipality in Snina District in the Prešov Region of north-eastern Slovakia. Geography The municipality lies in the Cirocha river valley, at an altitude of 257 metres and with a total area of 167.742&nb ...

and

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1938–1945) he was employed as a teacher in Slatina,

Litice nad Orlicí Litice nad Orlicí () is a village and administrative part of Záchlumí in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landl ...

and

. In 1941 he began teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry and natural science at secondary school. After military duties in 1945 he worked as a secondary school teacher in

Žamberk Žamberk (; ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zon ...

until his retirement in 1971.

Work

He was a member of Czechoslovak entomological society in

starting in 1940. He specialised in

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

especially the family

Nitidulidae The sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a family of beetles. They are small (2–6 mm) ovoid, usually dull-coloured beetles, with knobbed antennae. Some have red or yellow spots or bands. They feed mainly on decaying vegetable ma ...

. In this group he studied the world

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

describing many new

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

Literature

*Marek, O. & Jelínek, J. 1966. Two new Palaearctic species of the genus Meligethes Steph. (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae). Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca 63: 453-458. *Marek, O. 1968. Nitiduliden-Fauna (Coleoptera) aus Liberia. Natura Jutlandica 14: 153-154. *Marek, O. 1969. Die Nitiduliden Fauna von Brasilien (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae), erster Teil. Papeis Avulsos do Departamento de Zoologia Sao Paulo 22: 153-157. *Marek, O. 1982. Nitidulidae (Coleoptera) of Brazil 2. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 26(3-4): 261-268.

References

1911 births 1986 deaths People from Ústí nad Orlicí Czech entomologists {{Entomologist-stub