Paul Bartsch
| Paul Bartsch | |
|---|---|
Paul Bartsch
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| Born |
14 August 1871 Tuntschendorf, Silesia, German Empire |
| Died | 24 April 1960 (aged 88) McLean, Virginia |
| Fields | malacology, carcinology |
| Institutions | George Washington University and National Museum of Natural History |
| Alma mater | University of Iowa |
| Known for | invented one of the first underwater cameras |
Paul Bartsch (14 August 1871 Tuntschendorf, Silesia – 24 April 1960 McLean, Virginia) was an American malacologist and carcinologist. He was named the last of those belonging to the "Descriptive Age of Malacology.
Paul Bartsch emigrated with his parents to the U.S.A in 1880, first to Missouri and then to Burlington, Iowa. As a child, he took up jobs in his spare time in several employments. He soon took an interest in nature, first by keeping a small menagerie at home, and during his high school years, collecting birds and preparing skins. He established a natural-history club in his home with a little museum and a workshop. By the time he went to the University of Iowa in 1893, he had collected 2,000 skins.
Among his professors at the university were the University of Iowa were the geologist Samuel Calvin, botanists Thomas H. Macbride and Bohumil Shimek, and the zoologist Charles C. Nutting. He graduated from the university with a B.S. in 1896, and M.S. in 1899, and PhD in 1905.
In 1896 he was invited by William H. Dall to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to serve as his assistant in the Division of Mollusks. At that time, Bartsch knew little about mollusks and expected more to make ornithology his life work.
In 1899 he became an instructor in zoology at the Columbian University (later George Washington University), but declined the next year a full-time professorship as he was more devoted to scientific research. Nevertheless, he was later given the title of professor, as he continued to teach in the evening and in the weekends. He was joined a few years later by W.H. Dall in directing graduate students. Bartsch continued teaching zoology until he retired in 1945 with the rank of professor emeritus.
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