Henry Suter
| Henry Suter | |
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Henry Suter (about 1915)
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| Born |
9 March 1841 Riesbach, Zurich, Switzerland |
| Died | 31 July 1918 (aged 77) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Fields | zoology, malacology, palaeontology |
Henry Suter (born Hans Heinrich Suter) (9 March 1841 – 31 July 1918) was a Swiss-born New Zealand zoologist, naturalist, palaeontologist, and malacologist.
Henry Suter was born on 9 March 1841 in Riesbach, Zurich, Switzerland, and was the son of a prosperous silk-manufacturer of Zurich. He was educated at the local school and university, being trained as an analytical chemist. Suter joined his father's business, and for some years he engaged in various commercial pursuits.
From his boyhood, Henry Suter was deeply interested in natural history. He enjoyed the friendship and help of such men as Dr. Auguste Forel, Professor Paul Godet, the brothers de Saussure (linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, sinolog and astronomer Léopold de Saussure and René de Saussure esperantist and scientist), Escher von der Linth, and especially the well-known conchologist, Dr. Albert Mousson.
Partly to improve his financial prospects and partly lured by the attraction of the fauna of a new country, Suter resolved to emigrate to New Zealand. It was the last day of the year 1886 when with his wife and a family of young children he landed in New Zealand. According to words by captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton: "He was Swiss, lately arrived in New Zealand with introductions from well-known European zoologists."
Suter began his colonial career by taking up a remote selection in the Forty-mile Bush in the Wairarapa district. It is only in a story that a middle-aged townsman can ever turn backwoodsman with success, and so after about a year, Suter relinquished the hard and hopeless struggle.
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