Charles Schweinfurth (April 13, 1890 – November 16, 1970) was an American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and plant collector who distinguished himself by his studies on orchids. He predominantly collected species from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

which he described in his four volume reference work ''Orchids of Peru'' (1958). He was a researcher at the Botanical Museum of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and director of the Ames Orchid Herbarium where, in 1958, he was succeeded by

Leslie Andrew Garay Leslie Andrew Garay (August 6, 1924 – August 19, 2016), born Garay László András, was an American botanist. He was the curator of the Oakes Ames (botanist), Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, where he succeeded Charles Schweinf ...

Life

Schweinfurth was born in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

in 1890, the son of Mary Frances and Julius Adolphe Schweinfurth, a noted architect. In 1909 Schweinfurth entered Harvard University where he majored in chemistry, although his course work included several biology courses such as

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

botany. Despite a bout with

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

which left his right arm slightly paralyzed, he graduated ''cum laude'' in 1913, and entered Harvard graduate school. In 1914 he took a job tending the living orchid collections of a Harvard professor,

Oakes Ames Oakes Ames (January 10, 1804 – May 8, 1873) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. As a congressman, he is credited by many historians as being ...

. Ames recognized his intelligence and abilities and took him on as his personal assistant. Soon he had acquired the skills of a dedicated orchidologist. Ames had him doing independent work on the orchids of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, of

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and on some from various Pacific islands. Subsequently, he worked on the orchids of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, notably

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. In 1922,

James Francis Macbride James Francis Macbride (19 May 1892 16 June 1976) was an American botanist who devoted most of his professional life to the study of the flora of Peru. Early life and education Born on 19 May 1891 in Rock Valley, Iowa, MacBride graduated from th ...

invited him to join the "Flora of Peru Project", and Schweinfurth took on the

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

for his part. This eventually led to his ''magnum opus'' the ''Orchids of Peru''

Selected publications

* 1925. ''New or noteworthy species of Orchids from the American tropics'' with Ames, Oakes, ''Schedulae Orchidianae'', No.8, pp. 1 – 91 * 1939. ''Notes on a remarkable collection of orchids from Panama''. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University * 1967. ''Orchidaceae of the Guayana Highland''

Books

* Ames, Oakes; Hubbard, F. T. and Schweinfurth, Charles. (1936). ''The Genus ''Epidendrum'' in the United States & Middle America''. Botanical Museum Cambridge, Massachusetts. * 1958. ''Orchids of Peru''. Chicago Natural Hist. Museum. Publication 837, 868, 885, 913. 4 vols.

Honors and homages

* 1958 ''Catedrático Honorario'' (honorary professor) from the National University of San Marcos in Peru * 1962 an honorary professorship from the

National University of San Antonio Abad in Cuzco The National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco'') (UNSAAC), also known as Saint Anthony University of Cusco or University of Cusco, is a public university in Cusco, Peru a ...

, Peru * 1966 elected an honorary member by the Sociedad Colombiana de Orquideologia The following plants have been named after Schweinfurth in his honour: ; Genera: * ''

Cischweinfia ''Cischweinfia'' is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It was named after Harvard orchidologist Charles Schweinfurth. It has eleven currently recognized species, all native to Central America and northwestern South ...

'' Dressler & N.H.Williams, 1970 ; Species: * '' Rhynchopera schweinfurthii'' ( Garay, 1954) Szlach. & Marg. 2001, originally ''Pleurothallis schweinfurthii''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schweinfurth, Charles 20th-century American botanists Orchidologists Harvard University alumni 1890 births 1970 deaths