Viktor von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen (28 December 1847 – 5 March 1924) was an Austrian
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
.
Biography
Tschusi was born on 28 December 1847 in the
Smíchov
Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river.
History
Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...
district of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
.
[ His father was a former officer in the ]Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
from a noble family of Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
, and Tschusi held the title of Reichsritter
The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility ('' edelfrei'') and the minister ...
.[ Tschusi's father, and his mother Josephine, inspired an early interest in natural history. Tschusi attended ]gymnasium school
''Gymnasium'' (and variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term '' preparatory high school''. Bef ...
at a Jesuit college at Kalksburg
Kalksburg () is a former municipality in Lower Austria that is now a part of the 23rd Viennese district Liesing.
Today, the cadastral commune Atzgersdorf has got an area of 375,7 hectare.
Etymology
The name ''Kalksburg'' stems from the surn ...
, near Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He began his scientific studies under a private tutor when his family moved to Krems an der Donau
Krems an der Donau () is a town of 23,992 inhabitants in Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria. It is the fifth-largest city of Lower Austria and is approximately west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or '' Statutarstad ...
, and to Schloss Arntsdorf after his father's death when he was 17.[ Tschusi learned to prepare bird specimens from a preparator at the ]Imperial Natural History Museum
The Imperial Natural History Museum or Imperial-Royal Natural History Court Museum of Austria-Hungary was created by (Kaiser) Emperor Franz Joseph I during an extensive reorganization of the museum collections, from 1851 to 1876, and opened to th ...
, and became skilled at collecting and preparing bird specimens. From 1868 to 1870, he travelled extensively in Austria, Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, northern Italy, northern Germany, and Heligoland
Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...
, meeting other ornithologists and visiting important bird collections.[
Tschusi collected about 10,000 specimens over his life, which are now in the Imperial Natural History Museum, the ]Zoologische Staatssammlung München
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (german: Zoologische Staatssammlung München) or ZSM is a major German research institution for zoological systematics in Munich. It has over 20 million zoological specimens. It is one of the largest natur ...
, and the Salzburg Ornithological Institute.[ He was a prolific writer, the author of over 700 publications. Tschusi specialized in the avifauna of the ]Palaearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
, becoming a noted expert on the subject, and exerted a great influence on the development of ornithology in Austria-Hungary. Among his works are the ''Ornithologisches Jahrbuch'', published annually from 1890 until World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and bibliographies of Austria-Hungary's birds.[ Tschusi described a number of bird ]taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
, including the Madeiran wood pigeon
The Madeiran wood pigeon (''Columba palumbus maderensis'') was a subspecies of the wood pigeon (''Columba palumbus'') endemic to Madeira (Portugal), and found in the island's laurel forest habitat.
The Madeiran wood pigeon closely resembled the ...
. The European goldfinch
The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (''Carduelis carduelis'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Austral ...
subspecies ''Carduelis carduelis tschusii'' was named after him.
Tschusi participated in the First International Congress of Ornithologists
The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
, held in April 1884 in Vienna by Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph
, caption = Rudolf in 1887
, spouse =
, issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz
, house = Habsburg-Lorraine
, father = Franz Joseph I of Austria
, mother ...
, and was among the first members of the International Ornithological Committee
The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
. At the request of Prince Rudolf, Tschusi directed the ornithological observation stations in Austria-Hungary for eight years, editing the results of the work, and publishing them in the journal of the International Ornithological Committee, '' Ornis'', and in six separate yearbooks. The studies undertaken at the ornithological observation stations, first proposed by R. Blasius and G. von Hayek, had led to the First International Congress of Ornithologists, and greatly influenced the progress of ornithology throughout the world.
Tschusi became a member of the Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft of Vienna in 1865, and a member of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft The German Ornithologists' Society (german: Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft) was founded in 1850, and is one of the world's oldest existing scientific societies. Its goal is to support and further scientific ornithology in Germany on all levels. ...
in 1867. He was additionally a Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...
from 1884.[
Tschusi married Natalie Kuhn von Kuhnenfeld in April 1871. After his marriage he purchased Villa Tannenhof near ]Hallein
Hallein () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is the capital of Hallein district.
Geography
The town is located in the ''Tennengau'' region south of the City of Salzburg, stretching along the Salzach river in the shadow of ...
, where was to live for the rest of his life. At Villa Tannenhof he hosted many of the noted ornithologists of his time.[ Tschusi's son Rudolf von Thanner was also an ornithologist, and became an expert on the birds of the ]Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
and the other parts of Macaronesia
Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of List of islands in the At ...
. Von Thanner lived in Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
from 1902 to 1922, and his relatives were still living in the Canaries in 1997.
During World War I and the years following it, Tschusi and his wife were reduced to poverty and suffered greatly. His fortunes changed around his golden wedding anniversary in 1921, when he was granted a pension by the Austrian government and received an honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from the University of Innsbruck
The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669.
...
. Tschusi died on 5 March 1924, at Tannenhof, where he had lived for 53 years.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tschusi Zu Schmidhoffen, Viktor von
1847 births
1924 deaths
Austrian ornithologists
Scientists from Prague