Oldřich Marek (3 April 1911–1986) was a Czechoslovak
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...
and teacher, and a member of Czechoslovak entomological society in
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 ...
starting in 1940.
Life
Oldřich Marek was born on 3 April 1911 in
Ústí nad Orlicí. He attended Primary school in
Dolní Čermná and secondary school in
Česká Třebová
Česká Třebová (; german: Böhmisch Trübau) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monumen ...
. After completing secondary school he left for
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 ...
to become a primary school teacher in
Smolník,
Stakčín
Stakčín ( hu, Takcsány) 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 o ...
and
Trnava
Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(1938–1945) he was employed as a teacher in
Slatina u Moravské Třebové,
Litice nad Orlicí and
Dolní Čermná. 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 until his retirement in 1971.
Work
He specialised in
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describe ...
especially the family
Nitidulidae. In this group he studied the world
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...
describing many new
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
.
Gallery
O+b markovi.jpg, Oldřich Marek and his wife Blažena, née Pravečková
Oldřich Marek 1a.jpg, Oldřich Marek at work with binocular microscope
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
Czechoslovak entomologists
{{Entomologist-stub