August Rothpletz

Friedrich August Rothpletz (28 April 1853, Neustadt an der Haardt – 27 January 1918, Oberstdorf) was a German geologist and paleontologist.

From 1875 to 1880 he conducted geological mapping in Saxony as part of the Sächsischen Geologischen Landesanstalt (Saxon Geological Survey), afterwards receiving his doctorate from the University of Leipzig (1882). Two years later he obtained his habilitation at the University of Munich, where he taught classes in geology, Alpine tectonics and paleobotany. In 1894 he became an associate professor and in 1904 succeeded Karl von Zittel as professor of geology and paleontology at Munich. From 1904 to 1918 he was director of the Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie (Bavarian Geological-Paleontological State Collections).

He performed research on a wide array of subjects, that included studies on the structure of calcareous algae and the folding of rocks in mountain ranges. He was particularly interested in geological problems associated with the Alps, publishing two important works as a result, Geotektonische Probleme (1894) and Geologische Alpenforschungen (1900–08). He also studied marine geological formations of the Canary Islands, publishing the treatise Die marinen Ablagerungen auf Gran Canaria (1890), in collaboration with Victor Simonelli.

He was a foreign correspondent of the Geological Society of London (from 1894), becoming a foreign member in 1903. In 1948 the calcimicrobe genus Rothpletzella was named in his honor.

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