Gerhard Schmid, veterinarian, was the son of Paul Christian Schmid and Marta Weitbrecht. He studied at the University of Berlin and was registered as a veterinarian (Tierärz Approbation) in 1905. In 1909 he obtained his Doctor Medicae Veterinariae (Dr Med Vet) degree from the University of Giessen with a thesis on avian diseases: Untersuchungen über die Beziehungen zwischen Geflügeldiphtherie und Epithelioma Contagiosum. The next year he joined the German colonial administration of German South West Africa (now Namibia) as a veterinary surgeon. During World War I (1914-1918) he was attached to the 1st Field Company of the Schutztruppe and took part in various actions. With the surrender of the German forces in 1917 he was allowed to return to his farm and also to remain in the country when all government officials were repatriated to Germany in 1918.

In 1921 Schmid became a member of the South African Veterinary Medical Association and the next year was appointed in the new South African administration as government veterinary officer at Omaruru and Okahandja until his retirement in 1954. In 1955 he published an article in the Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association on the development of veterinary services in South West Africa and the most important diseases encountered there. It was based on a paper he read at a meeting of the South West Africa branch of the Association in 1951.

On 4 May 1914 Schmid married Emma Zeller, but they had no children.

List of sources:

Curson, H.H. The veterinary profession in South Africa. 6: Theses for the doctorate. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1933, Vol. 4(3), pp. 186-188.

FamilySearch: Gerhard Schmid. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/94HV-XNL/gerhard-schmid-1883

Posthumus, P.J. Past veterinarians in South Africa (10th edition), Vol. 2, [1992].

Register of veterinarians of the Union of South Africa... Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1929, Vol. 1(3), pp. 77-83.

Schmid, G. The veterinary surgeon in South West Africa forty years ago. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1955, Vol. 26(1), pp. 21-28.

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2025-11-12 12:35:12