August von Pelzeln (wrongly named von Pelzein by Spohr, 1979), Austrian ornithologist, studied at the University of Vienna. In 1851 he became an assistant in the Austrian Hof-Naturalien-Cabinet (imperial collection), under the helminthologist Karl M. Diesing. In 1857 he became curator of the institution's bird collection and in 1869 also of its mammal collection. Between 1856 and 1890 he published (in German) about 55 papers, almost all of them in ornithology. A number of these dealt with the imperial collection, others with birds collected by individuals and expeditions all over the world. One of his major contributions was a 176 page monograph on the birds collected by the Novara Expedition in 1857-1859 (Vienna, 1865). He described many new bird species and several other species were named after him by various ornithologists.

Von Pelzeln was co-author with Emil Holub* of Beitraege zur Ornithologie Suedafrikas (Vienna, 1882), one of the most interesting books on South African ornithology of the nineteenth century. According to Spohr (1979), von Pelzeln accompanied Holub on his travels in southern Africa during 1872-1877. However, judging from his publication list this seems unlikely. Furthermore, Fock (1976/7) in his paper on Holub's travels does not mention von Pelzeln at all. It is therefore almost certain that he did not visit South Africa.

List of sources:

August von Pelzeln. In Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org

Fock, G.J. Emil Holub (1847-1902), ein Afrikaforscher aus Boehmen. Journal of the South West Africa Scientific Society, 1976/7, Vol. 31, pp. 99-109.

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.

South African bibliography to the year 1925. London: Mansell, 1979.

Spohr, O.H. Emil Holub and August von Pelzein look at the birdlife of South Africa in the 1870's. Bokmakierie, 1979, Vol. 31, pp. 37-39.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2020-04-23 17:30:14