Hieraaetus weiskei (Reichenow, 1900) and others (1 Viewer)

[Taphrospilus]

Cacomantis castaneiventris weiskei Reichenow, 1900 OD 8, 1900 - Ornithologische Monatsberichte - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Sammler: Emil Weiske.

Hieraaetus weiskei (Reichenow, 1900) OD 8, 1900 - Ornithologische Monatsberichte - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Sammler: Emil Weiske.

Climacteris weiskei Reichenow, 1900 OD 8, 1900 - Ornithologische Monatsberichte - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Sammler: Emil Weiske.

Syma weiskei Reichenow, 1900 OD 8, 1900 - Ornithologische Monatsberichte - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Sammler: Emil Weiske.

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds

A comprehensive dictionary listing all the people whose names are commemorated in the English and scientific names of birds.Birdwatchers often come across bird names that include a person's name, either in the vernacular (English) name or latinised in the scientific nomenclature. Such names are...

books.google.de

...
[Alt . Mountain Kingfisher ; JS Syma megarhyncha megarhyncha]
Pygmy Eagle Hieraaetus weiskei Reichenow , 1900 [Alt . New Guinea Hawk Eagle]
Chestnut - breasted Cuckoo ssp . Cacomantis castaneiventris weiskei Reichenow , 1900
Emil Weiske (1867-1950) was a German traveller and specimen preparator who collected animals and ethnological objects and founded a private museum. He was in California (1890-1892), unsuccessfully prospecting for gold but successfully learning English. He went to Hawaii (1892) to collect birds and insects, then moved on to the Fiji Islands (1894). He moved to North Queensland (1895) for two years, then went to Papua (1897). He had the unwise habit of fishing with dynamite, and a stick of dynamite exploded shattering his right hand (1900). His companion, a local, saved him from bleeding to death. He returned to Germany (1900) and established a mobile museum (1904) which he took on tour. He went to Lake Baikal (1908) in Siberia to collect seals, etc., taking an assistant, Otto Taschmann, to make up for his one-handedness. His final trip abroad was to Argentina (1911–1913). Back again in Germany he bought a house and established his private museum.

The Key to Scientific Names - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

Emil Weiske (1867-1950) Austrian collector in Australia and New Guinea 1895-1900 (subsp. Cacomantis castaneiventris, syn. Cormobates leucophaea minor, Hieraaetus, syn. Syma megarhyncha).

According Emil Weiske – Wikipedia. he seems to be German and his full name is Friedrich Emil Weiske.

I did not check if the additional name is correct.

 

[James Jobling]

According to Whittell, 1954, The Literature of Australian Birds, p. 747, Emil Weiske was an Austrian, and most of his collections went to the Vienna Museum.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

I assume (read: guess) the full story ought to be found in either one of the two Papers below:

• Hans-Helmut Brainich: Emil Weiske, zum 50. Todestag des Naturkundlers und Forschungsreisenden. In: Rudolstädter Heimathefte, 45, 11/12, 1999, S. 292–296.
• Richard Heyder: „Emil WEISKE – Ein Leben für die Kenntnis der Natur fremder Länder“. In: Zoologische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, 27, 5, 1964, S. 81–128.

Either way, also see:
• Biographies of the Entomologists of the World: Weiske, Emil = here
• ZOBODAT: Emil Weiske = here
• Kalliope-verbund: Weiske, Emil (1867-1950) = here
and:
• Emil Weiske – Weltreisender und Naturforscher – Lehrer und Heimatdichter = here

As well as the following piece in German Wikipedia, from here [links and references excluded in/from the quote below]:

Naturkundliche Sammlung Emil Weiske
Die „Naturkundliche Sammlung Emil Weiske“ beinhaltet unterschiedliche Präparate exotischer Tiere und ethnologische Gegenstände, die der deutsche Naturforscher und Sammler Emil Weisker auf seinen Forschungsreisen zusammengetragen hat. Von 1890 bis 1900 bereiste Weiske die USA, Hawaii, Fidschi, Neuseeland und Neuguinea. 1908 besuchte er Sibirien und die nördliche Mongoleu. Seine letzte Reise führte ihn 1911 nach Argentinien, Brasilen und Paraguay.

Emil Weiske stellte erstmals 1903 ein Wandermuseum zusammen und zeigte in diesem seine zoologischen Sammlungsobjekte. Zwar verkaufte er zur Finanzierung seines Lebensunterhalts den Großteil seiner Exponate an Museen, Händler und sonstige Interessierte, doch es verblieb ein ausreichender Bestand in seinem privaten Besitz.

1922 gestaltete Weiske aus seiner Sammlung ein privates Museum in Saalfeld. Diese Bestände gingen 1979 an das Stadtmuseum Saalfeld über, wo sie als „Naturkundliche Sammlung Emil Weiske“ zu sehen sind. Bis heute blieben die originalen Vitrinen mit den dazugehörigen Transportkisten erhalten, die Weiske bereits für seine Wanderausstellung nutzte.

Hopefully of some help/use ...

To me, this far (with my limited knowlege of German), he does look like a German naturalist/collector (and serious traveller).

/B

 

[Taphrospilus]

It might be that some went to Vienna e.g. see Jahrg.57 (1909) - Journal für Ornithologie - Biodiversity Heritage Library . But there is written also:

Nach dem Weiske-Verzeichnis wäre dieser Balg Edoliisoma melas graciliroste n. sp. ; Da aber weder der Autor noch der Ort der Publication eruierbar, so ist diese „n. sp." nicht zuberücksichtigen. Weiske schrieb mir, die Sammlung sei von Prof. Reichenow durchgesehen worden, während dieser, wie er mir schreibt, die Collection zwar in größter Hast durchbestimmt, dabei einige Arten neu benannt hat, aber E. m. gracilirostre nicht kennt.

So I see more connection to Berlin than to Vienna. With above from Björn it is more than obvious that he was from Germany.

Anyway Ein Beitrag zur Naturgeschichte der Laubenvogel here Bd.27 (1902) - Ornithologische Monatsschrift - Biodiversity Heritage Library from him.

 

[Taphrospilus]

From his death record I would even go for the Friedrich Emil Weiske

 

[James Jobling]

I agree Weiske is German, but can't quite make out 'Friedrich' in the arachnograph of the death certificate!

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

James, it's (definitely) not the most elegant and neat handwriting I've seen, but to me, with some good will (and a bit of wishful thinking, or some preconceived ideas), I can interpret it as such ... even if I do think it looks more like "Frindrich" (alt. even 'Fuinduish', or 'FuinduiY') ... 🥴



Either way, it would be in line with what's told in the texts below:
• Persönlichkeiten aus Wissenschaft und Technik, Landkreis Saalfeld-Rudolstadt (2001), Snippet view here (and search for Weiske), on pp.123-125 we find the following:

Weiske, Friedrich Emil
(19. 5. 1867 Dolsenhain bei Altenburg – 15. 3. 1950 Saalfeld)
Der Vater Emil Weiskes, der Landwirt Johann Otto Weiske, hatte aus drei Ehen zwölf Kinder. Emil Weiske war das ...

• Barefoot on Lava: The Journals and Correspondence of Naturalist R.C.L. Perkins in Hawai'i, 1892-1901, by N. L. Evenhuis (2007), Snippet view here, which (if you search only for Emil) also show the following text (on p.199):

Weiske, Friedrich Emil (1867–1950). Born in Germany, Weiske toured the world, taking temporary jobs to pay for lodging and food wherever he went (e.g. in California, he was a cowboy on a ranch; in Hawai'i he became a soldier of the Provisional Government; in Fiji he worked on a sugar plantation and lived with native Fijian families. He traveled also to New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea. In New Guinea a premature explosion of dynamite used for fishing caused the eventual amputation of his right hand. He then returned to Germany, but made subsequent expeditions to Siberia and South America. His natural collections are housed in the Stadtsmseum der Stadt in Saalfeld, Germany. The Hawaiian birds Perkins gave him may be there.

An adventurous guy! 🧨


And, just for the fun of it, at least the following Museums have specimens collected by the same "E. Weiske":
• Museum für Naturkunde (ZMB or ISZ), in Berlin, Germany (here)
• Naturkunde-Museum Bamberg (NKMBA), in Germany (here)
• Naturkundemuseum Leipzig (NKML), in Germany (here)
• Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, in Germany (here)
• The Natural History Museum (BMNH or NHM), in England (here)

Enjoy!

Björn

 

[l_raty]

"Der Naturalist Friedrich Emil Weiske".

The handwriting in the death record is quite neat and clear actually... But it is mostly written in Kurrentschrift, thus the letters are quite different from the Latin cursive which we are used to see nowadays. (Last names - 'Weiske', 'Ledig', 'Mäder', 'Roßberg' - are in Latin cursive, which makes them stand out in the text - a bit like italicized words in a non-italicized text. Using Latin cursive for last names was quite standard in this type of document. (Latin cursive was often used for other 'important' words, such as names of localities/cities, too; but here - e.g. 'Saalfeld' - locality names are all written in Kurrent.))