Felix Kopstein (4 June 1893,

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. ...

– 14 April 1939,

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) was an Austrian-Dutch physician and naturalist, known for his work in the field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

. From 1913 to 1920, he studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and medicine at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, during which time he made the acquaintanceship of

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 ...

Otto von Wettstein Otto von Wettstein, name also given as Otto Wettstein-Westersheimb, (7 August 1892, in Vienna – 10 July 1967) was an Austrians, Austrian Zoology, zoologist. He was the son of botanist Richard Wettstein and the brother of botanist Fritz von Wettst ...

. In 1914 he collected herpetofauna specimens in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. From 1921 onward, he was assigned as a physician in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, being based on the island of Amboina, from where he made several zoological excursions to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and throughout the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

. In 1924 he transferred to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, being employed at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

, while in the meantime conducting studies of lizards and snakes native to the island. His name is associated with Kopstein's bronzeback snake ('' Dendrelaphis kopsteini)'' as well as Kopstein's emo skink ('' Emoia jakati)'', a

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), ...

described by Kopstein in 1926. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Dendrelaphis kopsteini'', p. 145)
Google Books
/ref> Also, through a trilingual play on words, he is honored in the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

of another skink, '' Sphenomorphus capitolythos'', in the following way: ''capito'' + ''lythos'' (Greek) = "head" + "stone" (English) = ''Kopf'' + ''Stein'' (German). Frog '' Callulops kopsteini'', also known as Kopstein's callulops frog, is named for him.

Written works

* ''Zoologische Tropenreise mit Kamera und Feldstecher durch die Indo-Australische Tierwelt'', 1928 – Zoological tropical journeys (with camera & binoculars for the study of Indo-Australian wildlife). * "Observations on the venomous effect of ''Naja bungarus''", published in 1929 in English. * ''De Javaansche gifslangen en haar beteekenis voor den mensch'', 1930. * ''Een zoologische reis door de tropen'' (ca. 1930). * "The Javanese black cobra", published in 1930 in English. * "Collected papers eprints of Felix Kopstein, (1923–1938, in English).WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by Felix Kopstein

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopstein, Felix 1893 births 1939 deaths University of Vienna alumni Scientists from Vienna Austrian herpetologists 20th-century Austrian zoologists Austrian emigrants Immigrants to the Dutch East Indies