Friedrich Kutter (1 October 1834 – 7 March 1891) was a German physician and ornithologist who was among the early adopters of evolutionary thinking in oology, the study of birds' eggs. He served as a president of the
German Ornithological Society in 1890-1891.
Biography
Kutter was born in
Grünberg in Silesia where his father was a well-known physician. He went to school in
Sorau and studied medicine at the Friedrich Wilhelms Institute 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 graduated in 1856. He then worked as a regimental physician in the 1st Cavalry (Uhlan) regiment stationed at various times in Berlin,
Głogów,
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
,
Prudnik
Prudnik (, , , ) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitant ...
and
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
, with active wartime service across Europe during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars and received several war medals including an
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
, and an
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...
.
From an early age he was interested in birds and was a collector of eggs. He was among the early members of the German Ornithological Society which produced the journal ''Naumannia'' from 1851 under the leadership of the pastor
August Carl Eduard Baldamus
August Carl Eduard Baldamus (April 18, 1812 – October 30, 1893) was a German ornithologist who founded the German Ornithologists' Society.
Life
Baldamus was born in Giersleben, Saxony-Anhalt. He studied theology at the University of Ber ...
. Another journal, the Journal for Ornithology was begun by
Jean Cabanis
Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. He worked at the bird collections of the Natural History Museum in Berlin becoming its first curator of birds in 1850. He founded the ''Journal für Ornithologie ...
in 1853 in Berlin and Kutter became a contributor to this during his medical studies years in Berlin and became acquainted with
Bernard Altum, Alfred Hausmann,
Karl Bolle,
Theobald Krüper, and Carl Vangerow. Kutter took an evolutionary view within oology. He travelled to the Philippines and collected specimens from there which were examined by Cabanis. ''Butio kutteri'' was named after him by Cabanis but this is now a junior synonym for ''
Gorsachius melanolophus''.
Kutter described a species of cuckooshrike, now the subspecies ''
Coracina striata kochii'' in 1882.
Kutter died suddenly of a cardiac arrest and is buried in
Zielona Góra
Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutter, Friedrich
1834 births
1891 deaths
German ornithologists