Osbert Salvin
Osbert Salvin | |
---|---|
Born | Finchley, England | 25 February 1835
Died | 1 June 1898 | (aged 63)
Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
Occupation | naturalist |
Known for | Godman-Salvin Medal |
Spouse | Caroline Octavia Maitland |
Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist best known for co-authoring Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America.
Biography
Osbert Salvin was born in Finchley, north London, the second son of the architect Anthony Salvin, of Hawksfold, Sussex. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, taking his degree in 1857.[1] Shortly afterwards he accompanied his second cousin by marriage, Henry Baker Tristram, in a natural history exploration of Tunisia and eastern Algeria. Their account of this trip was published in The Ibis in 1859 and 1860.[2]
In the autumn of 1857, he made the first of several visits to Guatemala, returning there with Frederick DuCane Godman in 1861. It was during this journey that the Biologia Centrali-Americana was planned.
In 1871 Salvin became editor of The Ibis. He was appointed to the Strickland Curatorship in the
Salvin was a
The Godman-Salvin Medal, a prestigious award of the British Ornithologists' Union, is named after him and Godman.
In the scientific field of
Family
In 1863, he married Caroline Octavia Maitland in Loughton, Essex. They had three daughters, Sybil Maitland Salvin (born 1867), who married Edmund Leveson Calverley in 1893, Heloise Salvin (born 1875) and Viola Salvin (born 1878). Heloise Salvin married biologist John Edmund Sharrock Moore.[5] Osbert's grandson is Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu, a Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature; he was originally also named Osbert after his grandfather.
References
- ^ "Salvin, Osbert (SLVN853O)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Fisher 2004.
- ^ Salvin, Osbert (1860). "On the Reptiles of Guatemala". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1860: 451-461.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Salvin", p. 232).
- ^ Woodward 1901.
Sources
- Fisher, Clemency Thorne (2004). "Salvin, Osbert (1835–1898), naturalist". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24586. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Mullens and Swann – A Bibliography of British Ornithology
- Papavero, Nelson; Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio (2003). "Contributions to a history of Mexican dipterology.– Part 2. The Biologia Centrali-Americana". Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.) 88: 143–232. [1]
- Woodward, Bernard Barham (1901). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
External links
- Works by or about Osbert Salvin at Wikisource
- Digital Version of Biologia Centrali-Americana