Eduard Oscar Schmidt (21 February 1823, in
Torgau
Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.
Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies first met near ...
– 17 January 1886, in
Kappelrodeck
Kappelrodeck () is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany and belongs to the district of Ortenau. It is located at the western hillslope of the Black Forest in the valley Achertal. It is about 20 kilometres to the north of Offenburg and ab ...
) was a German
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 ...
and
phycologist.
Biography
He initially studied
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
at
Halle, then continued his education in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, where he came under the influence of
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...
and
Johannes Peter Müller
Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. The paramesonephri ...
. In 1847 he received his
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...
, becoming an associate professor during the following year. In 1855 was he appointed professor of zoology at the
University of Cracow
The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...
. Later he taught classes at the Universities of
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
(from 1857) and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
(from 1872 till his death in 1886).
Schmidt was an early proponent of
Darwinian evolutionary thought. He is remembered for his research of
Porifera
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a Basal (phylogenetics) , basal clade and a sister taxon of the Eumetazoa , diploblasts. They are sessility (motility) , sessile ...
(sponges), particularly species from the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
. Schmidt also made contributions in the field of
phycology
Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science.
Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a ...
.
As far back as 1862 Oscar Schmidt showed that "cuttings" of sponges will attach themselves and grow. This idea was followed through in the experiments of Croatian scientist
Grgur Bučić on the island of
Hvar
Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis (island), Vis and Korčula. Approximately long,
with a high east–west ridge of M ...
, from 1863 to 1872, but these experiments were brought to a close by the hostility of the native fishermen.
[(Croatian]
Prirodoslovni kabinet "Dr. Grgur Bučić"
, Muzej hvarske baštine
Written works
Schmidt built a reputation based upon a handbook of
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
, the 9th edition of which, by
Arnold Lang
Arnold Lang (18 June 1855 – 30 November 1914) was a Swiss naturalist, a comparative anatomist and student of German biologist Ernst Haeckel. Biography
In March 1876 he earned his PhD from the University of Jena, and two months later became hab ...
, was issued under the title ''Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie der wirbellosen Tiere'' (1888–1894). He made significant contributions to ''
Brehms Tierleben
''Brehms Tierleben'' (English title: ''Brehm's Animal Life'') is a scientific reference book, first published in the 1860s by Alfred Edmund Brehm (1829–1884). It was one of the first modern popular zoological treatises. First published in ...
'', and was the author of several treatises on sponges. The following are some of his principal writings:
* ''Bilder aus dem Norden'' - Images of the North, based on Schmidt's second expedition to the
Faeroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a population of 54,609 ...
and the
North Cape, 1851.
* ''Goethes Verhältnis zu den organischen Naturwissenschaften'', 1853.
* ''Lehrbuch der Zoologie'' - Textbook of zoology, 1854.
* ''Die Entwicklung der vergleichenden Anatomie'' - Development of comparative anatomy, 1855.
* ''Die Spongien des adriatischen Meeres'' - Sponges of the Adriatic Sea, 1862.
* ''Das Alter der Menschheit und das Paradies'', (with
Franz Unger
Franz Joseph Andreas Nicolaus Unger (30 November 1800 in ''Gut Amthof'' near village Leutschach in Styria, Austria – 13 February 1870 in Graz) was an Austrian botanist, paleontologist and plant physiologist.
Life and work
Initially, U ...
, 1866).
* ''Descendenzlehre und Darwinismus''
''The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism'' (1873, 3rd edition 1884).
* ''Darwinismus und Socialdemokratie'', Bon, 1878.
* ''Leitfaden der Zoologie'' (4th edition 1882).
* ''Die Säugethiere in ihrem Verhältnis zur Vorwelt'', 1884.
See also
*
:Taxa named by Eduard Oscar Schmidt
Notes
References
Wikisourcetranslated biography @
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...
*
External links
*
*
1823 births
1886 deaths
19th-century German zoologists
Academic staff of Jagiellonian University
People from the Province of Saxony
People from Torgau
Spongiologists
Academic staff of the University of Graz
Academic staff of the University of Jena
Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg
{{Germany-zoologist-stub