Jakab Vönöczky Schenk (June 2, 1876 – February 22, 1945) was a Hungarian ornithologist who helped establish a systematic bird ringing project in the region from 1908. He translated Hungarian articles into German and edited the journal ''Aquila'' from 1905.

Life and work

Schenk was born in Óverbász where his father was a master mason. As a young boy he enjoyed visiting the reed-beds to observe birds. He studied at Szarvas and then at the

University of Cluj A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and graduated in Budapest in 1899. He was interested in mathematics and trained as a mathematics teacher, he was encouraged to take up ornithology by

Otto Herman Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

. He first joined military service with the Austro-Hungarian 14th infantry posted in Niederdorf, Tyrol. After demobilization in 1901 he joined back Herman as a secretary and helped edit the journal ''Aquila'' and also by translating content into German. In 1908 he began bird ringing exercises on white storks in Hungary, making it the third country after Denmark and Germany to conduct systematic ringing. He also became secretary at the ornithology centre and in 1927 became its director with

Titusz Csörgey Titusz Csörgey (August 12, 1875 – December 15, 1961) was a Hungarian ornithologist and bird artist. He served as a director of the Hungarian ornithological institute after the death of Istvan Chernel. Life and work Csörgey was the son of K ...

as assistant. He conducted surveys on the populations of white storks from 1909 to 1915. A white stork that he ringed was shot in Natal and the recovery became a major news event in 1909. He was involved in the conservation of egrets breeding in Kis Balaton. A major publication in 1928 was a map of bird migration in Hungary, a poster of which became famous and was exhibited in every Hungarian school. After retirement he moved during World War II to live with his son in

Kőszeg Kőszeg (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is known for its historical character. History Medieval Period The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quart ...

where he died from a heart attack.

References

External links

Biography
(in Hungarian)
Schenk, Jakab (1931) A madarak világának tanulmányozása.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenk, Jakab Hungarian ornithologists Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Budapest University alumni Austro-Hungarian military personnel People from Vrbas, Serbia 1876 births 1945 deaths