Johann Georg Grimpe (16 February 1889, in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

– 22 January 1936) 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

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 ...

. He studied zoology and

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 ...

at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where under the influence of

Carl Chun Carl Chun or Karl Friedrich Gustav Chun (1 October 1852 – 11 April 1914) was a German marine biologist who worked as a professor at the Universities of Königsberg (1883), Breslau (1891) and Leipzig (1898). He was a pioneer of German oceanogr ...

(1852–1914), he focused his energies towards research of marine fauna, especially

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

. He conducted studies at

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

stations in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...

Helgoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. In 1912 he obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on the

vascular system In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

of Octopoda.Grimpe, Johann Georg
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie After graduation, he worked as an assistant at the

Leipzig Zoo Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo () is a zoo in the Leipzig district of Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and now covers about and contains approximatel ...

, being tasked with scientific design issues concerning its

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

and

terrarium A terrarium ( terraria or terrariums) is a glass container containing soil and plants in an environment different from the surroundings. It is usually a sealable container that can be opened for maintenance or to access the plants inside; howeve ...

. From 1915 he was an assistant in the zoological institute at the university. In 1922 he began work as a lecturer at Leipzig, and in 1928 became an associate professor. He is the

taxonomic authority In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

of numerous taxa, including the

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

order Vampyromorpha and the families

Stauroteuthidae ''Stauroteuthis'' is a genus of deepwater cirrate octopus, a cephalopod mollusk. This is the only genus in the family Stauroteuthidae, and only three species have been described in this genus. The organisms live below water depth; although som ...

and

Chtenopterygidae ''Chtenopteryx'' is a genus of small, muscular, midwater squid in the monotypic family Chtenopterygidae. Four species are presently recognized in the genus, but more are believed to exist. These squid occupy tropical to subtropical waters, proba ...

. In 1933 Grimpe signed the ''

Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzi ...

''.

Published works

With

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Erich Wagler (1884–1951), he collaborated on a textbook of marine biology titled "''Die Tierwelt der Nord- und Ostsee''" (Fauna of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

s), and beginning in 1927, he was editor of the journal "''Der Zoologische Garten''". He also made significant contributions towards "'' Brehms Thierleben''" (Brehm's Animal Life), a popular zoological encyclopedia. Other noted works by Grimpe include: * ''Zur Kenntnis der Cephalopodenfauna der Nordsee'', 1925 - To the knowledge of cephalopods of the North Sea. * ''Die Cephalopoden des arktischen Gebietes'', 1933 - Cephalopods of Arctic regions.Google Books
(publications)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimpe, Georg 1889 births 1936 deaths Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Scientists from Leipzig German malacologists 20th-century German zoologists