Fritz Haas (January 4, 1886 – December 26, 1969 in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

) was a Jewish 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 ...

born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He specialized in the field of

malacology Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

. He was trained in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

Oskar Boettger Oskar Boettger (; 31 March 1844 – 25 September 1910) was a German zoologist who was a native of Frankfurt am Main. He was an uncle of the noted malacologist Caesar Rudolf Boettger (1888–1976). From 1863 to 1866 he studied at the Bergakademie ...

(1844–1910) and

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

Wilhelm Kobelt Wilhelm Kobelt (20 February 1840 – 26 March 1916) was a German zoologist born in Alsfeld, Grand Duchy of Hesse. He specialized in the field of malacology. Kobelt was born in Alsfeld to parish priest Wilhelm (1809–74) and Auguste (1815–97) ...

(1840–1916). From 1911 to 1936, he was a

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

zoology at the Senckenberg Museum in

. On June 30, 1936, the Nazis removed him from his position at the Senckenberg Museum. Fleeing Germany, Haas was appointed as the first curator of the new department of lower invertebrates (now the Division of Invertebrates) at the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

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, a position he retained until 1959. He identified and cataloged specimens that had lain unexamnied since the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, starting to build the museum's now world-class collection of aquatic invertebrates. Haas' specialty involved the study of land and

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs t ...

s, as well as research of the family

Unionidae The Unionidae are a Family (biology), family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply as unionids. The range of distribution for this family is world-wide. It is a ...

(freshwater

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s). He performed extensive field investigations in Norway (1910),

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

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(1914–19), southern Africa (1931–32; as part of the Hans Schomburgk expedition) and the Americas (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

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). Among his better known written works was a 1969

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

titled ''Superfamilia Unionacea''. He is credited with combining over 4000 names from the family Unionidae into 837 recognized species. Malacological bibliography with 319 entries and 77 generic names and 308 specific (and subspecific) names of molluscs originally described by Fritz Haas, provided by

Alan Solem George Alan Solem (21 June 1931 – 26 March 1990),Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (2009). ''2,400 years of malacology, 6th ed.'', February 15, 2009, 830 pp. + 32 pp. nnex of Collations American Malacological Society: http://www.malacologi ...

in 1967. Solem A. (1967)
"New molluscan taxa and scientific writings of Fritz Haas"
'' Fieldiana'' 53(2): 71–144.

Eponymous taxa

Taxa named in honor of Fritz Haas include: * '' Cipangopaludina haasi'' (Prashad, 1928) * '' Cuspidaria haasi'' (Knudsen, 1970) * The fish '' Enteromius haasianus'' L. R. David, 1936,

References

External links

Illinois Natural History Survey
(biography of Fritz Haas) {{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Fritz 1886 births 1969 deaths German malacologists 20th-century German zoologists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Scientists from Frankfurt