Theodore K. Lorenz or Fyodor Karlovich Lorenz (; 15 March 1842 – 5 October 1909) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and a taxidermist of repute who worked in Moscow. For his exceptional artistic specimen preparations, he was called the "Stradivarius of taxidermy". Lorenz was born in Vilyun, now in Poland. His father was a textile specialist from Saxony who moved to the Russian Empire where Lorenz grew up. He was educated at home and after studying three years at school he began to work from the age of 16 in a music company. His father later moved to the Bogorodsk district where Lorenz enjoyed hunting excursions and began to work on taxidermy. He worked briefly, following his father's business, in dyeing. He then became a specimen preparator and participated in the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition of 1872. He worked as a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

in the

Zoological Garden A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden ...

of the Imperial University in Moscow. He trained Aleksandr Kots and worked with many zoologists and trained a number of taxidermists. He explored the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and Kirghizistan as part of faunal surveys and was a specialist on the birdlife of the region. He became an expert on the biology of the black grouse. He also took an interest in hybridization and plumage variation. A number of his specimens were made for the Darwin Museum. Lorenz was an authority on

Tetraonidae Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondri ...

and

Phasianidae Phasianidae is a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hu ...

and an illustrated monograph on the grouse was published posthumously in 1910. Lorenz is buried in the Vyedenskiye Gory cemetery in Moscow. A species of snake, '' Ramphotyphlops lorenzi'', is named in his honor. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Lorenz, T.K., p. 160).

Works

Partial list (all in German): *"'' Die Lazurmeise'', Parus cyanus". ''

Journal für Ornithologie The ''Journal of Ornithology'' (formerly ''Journal für Ornithologie'') is a scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft. It was founded by Jean Cabanis in 1853, becoming the o ...

'' (1871) *''Beitrag zur Kentniss der Ornithologischen Fauna an der Nordseite des Kaukasus'' (Moscow, 1887) *"''Briefliches über zwei neue Fasanen-Abarten'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 36: 571–572. (1888) *"''Ein neur Bastard'' - Chrysomitris spinus x Acanthis linaria". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 38: 98-100. (1890) *"''Die Vögel des Moskauer Gouvernements'' ". ''Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou'' 6: 263–321. (1893) – 7: 337–354. (1894) – 8: 325–350. (1895) *"''Über'' Tetrao tetrix subspec. viridianus". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 39: 366–368. (1891) *"''Einiges über den von Herrn V. v. Tschudi beschriebenen seltenen Rackelhahn'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 39: 405–412. (1891) *"''Wiederum Einiges über Rackelwild und Hahnenfedrigkeit'' ". ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 42: 416–425. (1894) *"Phasianus mongolicus turcestanicus, nov. subspec". ''Ornith. Mber.'' 4: 189-191 .(1895)

References

External links

Virtuoso of Taxidermy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenz, Theodore K Lorenz German emigrants to the Russian Empire Ornithologists from the Russian Empire 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire 1842 births 1909 deaths