Gerard Krefft
Johann Ludwig (Louis) Gerard Krefft (17 February 1830 – 18 February 1881), was an Australian artist, draughtsman, scientist, and natural historian who served as the curator of the Australian Museum for 13 years (1861–1874). He was one of Australia's first and most influential zoologists and palaeontologists.
Some of [Krefft's] observations on animals have not been surpassed and can no longer be equalled because of the spread of settlement.
— Rutledge & Whitley, 1974
Mr. Krefft was probably the first man who thoroughly studied the reptiles of Australia.
— Obituary, in Nature, 21 April 1881
Gerard Krefft | |
|---|---|
Gerard Krefft (c.1857) | |
| Born | 17 February 1830 |
| Died | 18 February 1881 (aged 51) Woolloomooloo, New South Wales |
| Resting place | St Jude's Church, Randwick |
| Nationality | Naturalised British Subject in New South Wales (1864) |
| Education | St Martin's College, Braunschweig |
| Known for | Discovery, identification, and naming of the Queensland lungfish |
| Spouse | Annie McPhail (died 1926) (m.1869) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | ichthyologist and herpetologist Gerhard Krefft (1912–1993) (great-nephew) |
| Awards | Knight, Order of the Crown of Italy, Fellow, Linnean Society Corresponding Member, Zoological Society of London |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | natural history, zoology, palaeontology, ichthyology, entomology, herpetology |
| Institutions | National Museum of Victoria Australian Museum |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | kreftii |
He is also noted as an ichthyologist for his scientific description of the Queensland lungfish (now recognized as a classic example of Darwin's "living fossils"); and, in addition to his numerous scientific papers and his extensive series of weekly newspaper articles on natural history, his publications include The Snakes of Australia (1869), Guide to the Australian Fossil Remains in the Australian Museum (1870f), The Mammals of Australia (1871f), On Australian Entozoa (1872a), and Catalogue of the Minerals and Rocks in the Australian Museum (1873a).
Krefft was one of the very few Australian scientists in the 1860s and 1870s to support Darwin's position on the origin of species by means of natural selection. According to Macdonald, et al. (2007), he was one of the first to warn of the devastating effects of the invasive species (sheep, cats, etc.) on native species. Also, along with several significant others — such as Charles Darwin, during his 1836 visit to the Blue Mountains, Edward Wilson, the proprietor of the Melbourne Argus, and George Bennett, one of the trustees of the Australian Museum — Krefft expressed considerable concern in relation to the effects of the expanding European settlement upon the indigenous population.
Gerard Krefft is a significant figure in the history of nineteenth century Australian science. He is celebrated not only for his zoological work but as a man who was prepared to challenge individuals on points of scientific fact regardless of their position in Sydney society or metropolitan science. He is also remembered as one who could be abrasive and incautious in delicate political situations and a man whose career and life ultimately ended in tragedy. The dramatic end of Krefft's career in 1874 — where he was stripped of his position as Australian Museum curator, physically removed from the Museum and his character assassinated — often overshadows his early career and his development as a scientist.
— Stephens, 2013, p. 187