Walter Landauer (15 July 1896 – February 1978) was a German-American animal geneticist, who was interested particularly in chicken.

Life

Walter Landauer was born 1896 in Mannheim, Germany, to S. Friedrich and Charlotte Ziegler Landauer. His father was a provincial court judge. He graduated with

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

from the Reform-Gymnasium, Goethe School. In line with his pacifist ideals, he volunteered as a Red Cross nurse during WWI. He studied zoology at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and in 1922, he graduated from the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. From 1922 to 1924 he studied under Curt Herbst, a scientist in the study of embryonic induction, investigating the effect of ammonia on the heredity of

Echinoderm An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...

hybrids as Zoology Instructor at Heidelberg. In 1924 he emigrated to the United States when Leslie Clarence Dunn offered him a 10-month position at the University of Connecticut at the Experiment Station. There he studied poultry defects, like rumplessness and

chondrodystrophy Chondrodystrophy (literally, "cartilage maldevelopment") refers to a skeletal disorder caused by one of myriad genetic mutations that can affect the development of cartilage. As a very general term, it is only used in the medical literature when ...

in chicken embryos. He founded the department of animal genetics. From 1928 until his retirement, he was a professor in the department of animal genetics. In 1935 he signed the eugenics manifesto. After his retirement in 1964, he relocated to London where he became honorary research associate in the department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the University College in London. Landauer was married to Naomi E. Beck (1939). He was naturalized in 1940. In 1964, he married Elly Trude Kiewe. He died in February 1978.

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landauer, Walter 1896 births 1978 deaths German emigrants to the United States American eugenicists