Bergh's full names were Ludvig Sophus Rudolph, but all his publications appeared under the name Rudolph Bergh. He was a Danish physician and malacologist and should not be confused with his son, the Danish zoologist and composer Rudolph Sophus Bergh (1859-1924). Bergh senior studied medicine at the Almindelig Hospital in Copenhagen and received his medical degree in 1849. In 1863 he became chief physician of the Almindelig Hospital, a position he held for 40 years. He became an authority on sexually transmitted diseases and a hospital for such diseases was named after him.

As a malacologist Bergh published many articles, reports and monographs (in Danish, German and English), most of which dealt with the Opistobranchia (a sub-class of gasteropod molluscs, including the sea hares and nudibranchs), and more specifically with the nudibranchs (shell-less marine gasteropods), on which he became a leading expert. In 1870 he described the nudibranchs of Mauritius and many other places, in K. Semper's account of travels in the Philippine Islands, his contributions forming volumes 2, 7 and 9 of Semper's work. In 1884 he published an account of the nudibranchs dredged by HMS Challenger during its expedition of 1873-1876. In 1892 he described the Opistobranchia collected on expeditions by Prince Albert I of Monaco in his yacht l'Hirondelle. In 1902 he described the Opistobranchia collected by the Danish expedition to Thailand during 1899-1900. And in 1905 he described the Opistobranchia collected by the Dutch Siboga expedition to Indonesia, in which he took part. He had an enormous capacity for work and received many honours, but remained a charming and kindhearted person.

Bergh's contribution to southern African science consists of an extensive review, "The Opisthobranchiata of South Africa", which was published as a contribution to Marine investigations in South Africa (1908, Vol. 5, pp. 1-144). This volume was also issued as Volume 17 of the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of South Africa (1907-1908). The South African marine mollusc Philine berghi was named after him, as was the nudibranch genus Berghia.

List of sources:

Barnard, K.H. Contributions to the knowledge of South African marine mollusca. Part III. Annals of the South African Museum, 1963, Vol. 47, Part 1, pp. 1-199.

Barnard, K.H. Personal names in South African conchology. Cape Town: Conchological Society of SA, 1965.

Bergh, Ludwig (Ludvig) Sophus Rudolph (Rudolf). Shellers From the Past and Present. Retrieved on 25 July 2023 from https://www.conchology.be/?t=9001&id=12767

Cape of Good Hope, Department of Agriculture. Marine investigations in South Africa, 1908, Vol. 5. Cape Town: Cape Times.

National Union catalogue, pre-1956 imprints. London: Mansell, 1968-1980.

Royal Society of London. Catalogue of scientific papers [1800-1900]. London: Royal Society, 1867-1925.

Schlesch, H. Rudolph Bergh, 1824-1909. Journal of Conchology, Vol. 22, pp. 225-226. Retrieved from https://conchsoc.org/eminent/Bergh-R.php

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2023-07-25 11:20:47