Otto Widmann, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetOtto Widmann
American ornithologist
Date of Birth: 15-Jun-1841
Place of Birth: Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Date of Death: 26-Nov-1933
Profession: pharmacist, ornithologist
Zodiac Sign: Gemini 
About Otto Widmann
- Otto Widmann (June 15, 1841 – November 26, 1933) was an American ornithologist of German origin who was among the first to document the birds of the Missouri region.
- He published it in 1907 as a Preliminary Catalog of the Birds of Missouri after spending years to accumulate notes that were lost in a fire in 1905.
- He recorded the now restricted Bachman's sparrow in Missouri. Widmann was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Christoph Friedrich and Catherine Baumann.
- His father was interested in plants and had assembled a large herbarium while working on the estate of the Grand Duke of Baden, an all round naturalist.
- When Widmann was young he had access to the private library of the Grand Duke and among these were Johann Friedrich Naumann's birds of Germany in 12 volumes with illustrations.
- At a young age Widmann went collecting bird eggs in the forests around his home but he did not find much time subsequently.
- Widmann began to study at the lyceum in Karlsruhe from the age of nine to sixteen after which he trained for the apothecary business.
- After apprenticing for a while he traveled around Europe before graduated in pharmacy in 1864.
- He then traveled again, learning French and English while studying botany and chemistry.
- In 1866 he moved to America where he worked as a drugstore clerk in Hoboken.
- He then moved around and settled in St.
- Louis in 1867 where he started a drugstore.In 1871 he traveled back to Europe staying for nine months during which time he married Augusta Bender at Mannheim on March 5, 1872.
- In 1874 Augusta gifted her husband a copy of Birds of North America by Theodore Jasper and still later a cane gun for collecting specimens.
- He began to take a more serious interest in the local birds and published in several local journals while also being a member of the Audubon Society, the St.
- Louis Bird Club and the Wilson Ornithological Club.
- He especially took an interest in bird migration and distribution and kept careful notes in the hope of publishing a comprehensive catalogue of the birds of Missouri.
- In 1902 his house burned down while he was away in Europe, destroying all his manuscripts.
- He finally published a Preliminary Catalog of the Birds of Missouri in 1907.
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