Per Simon Valdemar Brinck (4 September 1919 – 6 October 2013) was a Swedish zoologist. Brinck began his career as a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

but wrote a thesis on ''

Plecoptera Plecoptera is an order (biology), order of insects commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to b ...

'' and later became a worldwide authority on ''

Gyrinidae The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae, that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater when threatened. They get their common name from their habit of swimming rapidly ...

''. He travelled extensively to Africa and Southeast Asia, among others co-publishing the fifteen-volume ''South African Animal Life'' between 1955 and 1973. He served as a professor of zoology at the

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

from 1958 to 1986. Brinck edited the journal ''

Oikos ''Oikos'' ( ; : ) was, in Ancient Greece, two related but distinct concepts: the family and the family's house. Its meaning shifted even within texts. The ''oikos'' was the basic unit of society in most Greek city-states. For regular Attic_G ...

'' from 1965 to 1989, and since 2007 the journal has given out the Per Brinck Oikos Award. Brinck was a fellow of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

from 1974 and of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

. He also was a Honorary Member of the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

. The genera ''

Perbrinckia ''Perbrinckia'' is a genus of freshwater crabs of the family Gecarcinucidae that is endemism, endemic to Sri Lanka, named after Per Brinck. Its natural habitats are subtropical forest, subtropical or tropical rainforest, tropical moist lowland fo ...

'' and '' Perbrinckiella'' have been named after him.

References

1919 births 2013 deaths Swedish veterinarians Swedish zoologists Swedish entomologists Academic staff of Lund University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Oikos (journal) editors {{Sweden-academic-bio-stub