Rosa Smith Eigenmann
| Rosa Smith Eigenmann | |
|---|---|
Rosa Smith Eigenmann
|
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| Born |
October 8, 1858 Monmouth, Illinois |
| Died | January 12, 1947 (aged 88) San Diego, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | |
Rosa Smith Eigenmann (October 8, 1858 – January 12, 1947) was an American ichthyologist,the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. First publishing her original science alone, she later collaborated with her husband Carl H. Eigenmann; some 150 species of fish are today credited "Eigenmann & Eigenmann" as a result.
Eigenmann was born in Monmouth, Illinois, the last of nine children. While her family was originally from California, they had moved to Illinois to start a newspaper. As Rosa was frail and in poor health, the family returned to California, settling in San Diego in 1876.
After schooling at the Point Loma Seminary in San Diego, Eigenmann attended a five-week course at a business college in San Francisco, one of only two women in the class; the other was Kate Sessions, later an important San Diego horticulturalist known as the "Mother of Balboa Park." Eigenmann was interested in the local natural history from an early age, and joined the San Diego Society of Natural History (San Diego Natural History Museum) in 1878 as an associate member. The next year, Eigenmann became the first woman with full membership in the San Diego Society of Natural History and assumed the roles of librarian and recording secretary for several years in the 1880s.
David Starr Jordan visited San Diego in 1879, and met Rosa Smith then, either at a Society meeting, or because he rented a horse and buggy from her father. At about this time, she had discovered the blind goby Othonops eos living in caves underneath Point Loma Peninsula. Jordan was impressed and encouraged her to study with him at Indiana University; she spent two years there, but had to return home due to an illness in the family. While at Indiana, she met fellow student Carl Eigenmann, and continued corresponding with him after returning to San Diego, as well as publishing formal descriptions of the blind goby and other fish. Carl and Rosa were married in San Diego on August 20, 1887. At the time of her marriage at age 28, Eigenmann had published a list of fish in the San Diego area, been asked by the Smithsonian Museum to make a collection of surf perch from the San Diego area, and published 10 single-authored primary papers in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum.
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