# Erich Uhmann

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Uhmann
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Uhmann.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Uhmann
> Source revision: 1347827807
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|German teacher and entomologist (1881–1968)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Erich Uhmann
| image             = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_name        = Erich Leo Ludwig Uhmann
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1881|11|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [Chemnitz](/source/Chemnitz), Germany
| death_date        = {{death date and age |1968|1|15 |1881|11|4|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [Stollberg](/source/Stollberg), Germany
| occupation        = Teacher (1908–1943)
| fields            = Entomology
| alma_mater        = [University of Leipzig](/source/University_of_Leipzig)
| known_for         = Contributions to beetle taxonomy
| awards            = honorary doctorate ([Humboldt University of Berlin](/source/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin))
| author_abbrev_zoo = '''Uhmann'''
}}

'''Erich Leo Ludwig Uhmann''' (4 November 1881 – 15 January 1968) was a German teacher and [entomologist](/source/entomologist) known for his contributions to [beetle](/source/beetle) [taxonomy](/source/taxonomy). Born in [Chemnitz](/source/Chemnitz), he worked as a secondary school teacher in [Stollberg](/source/Stollberg) from 1908 to 1943. During this period he also pursued entomological research, largely focusing on [hispine beetle](/source/hispine_beetle)s, which he continued after retiring from teaching until his death in 1968. A prolific author of [scientific paper](/source/scientific_paper)s, Uhmann would come to be recognised as an international expert on hispines, having published over 200 papers on hispine taxonomy.

==Life and career==

Uhmann was born on 4 November 1881 in [Chemnitz](/source/Chemnitz), Germany, and expressed an interest in [botany](/source/botany) and [entomology](/source/entomology) early in life.<ref name=Contribs97>{{cite journal |last1=Staines |first1=Charles L. |year=1997 |title=Erich Uhmann: Publications and Proposed Taxa in the Hispinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). |journal=Beiträge zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology |volume=47 |issue=2 |language=en |pages=399–420 |doi=10.21248/contrib.entomol.47.2.399-420 |doi-access=free |issn=0005-805X |oclc=760761725}}</ref><ref name=Contribs81>{{cite journal |last1=Marwinski |first1=Felicitas |year=1981 |title=Aus der Arbeit der Bibliothek des ehemaligen Deutschen Entomologischen Institutes. Nachlässe, Konvolute etc. Nachlaß Uhmann, Stollberg. |journal=Beiträge zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology |volume=31 |issue=1 |language=de |pages=27–82 |doi=10.21248/contrib.entomol.31.1.27-82 |doi-access=free |issn=0005-805X |oclc=760761725}}</ref><ref name=GDR>{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Kleinsteuber |editor1-first=Erich |date=July 1979 |title=Biographische Notizen über Entomologen des Bezirkes Karl-Marx-Stat (Fortsetzung) |magazine=Informationsmaterial für Entomologen des Bezirkes Karl-Marx-Stadt |publisher=Museum für Naturkunde Karl-Marx-Stadt & Bezirksfachausschuß Entomologie des [Kulturbund der DDR](/source/Kulturbund_der_DDR) |language=de |issue=8 |page=18 |oclc=1534549061 |url=https://www.hs-nb.de/storages/hs-neubrandenburg/institute/iugr/Zeitschriften/PDF-Scans/Sachsen/Informationsmaterial_fuer_Entomologen_des_Bezirkes_Karl-Marx-Stadt/1979__Nr._8.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250921091015/https://www.hs-nb.de/storages/hs-neubrandenburg/institute/iugr/Zeitschriften/PDF-Scans/Sachsen/Informationsmaterial_fuer_Entomologen_des_Bezirkes_Karl-Marx-Stadt/1979__Nr._8.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2025 |url-status=live |via=[Hochschule Neubrandenburg](/source/Hochschule_Neubrandenburg)}}</ref> He attended secondary school at the {{ill|Wettiner Gymnasium|de}} in [Dresden](/source/Dresden) and graduated in 1902. He began attending the [University of Leipzig](/source/University_of_Leipzig) in 1903, [majoring](/source/Academic_major) in mathematics and the [natural sciences](/source/natural_sciences) (botany, zoology, geography, and physics).<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=Contribs81/> After completing his studies in 1907, he spent a year as a trainee teacher in Chemnitz.<ref name=Contribs81/> In 1908 he took up work as a teacher at a secondary school in [Stollberg](/source/Stollberg), remaining here until moving to another school in the same town in 1925, where he worked until his retirement from teaching in 1943.<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=Contribs81/><ref name=GDR/> Uhmann married Lydia née Palhorn in 1914 and was briefly [drafted](/source/Conscription) to serve in [World War I](/source/World_War_I) between 1917 and the end of the war in 1918.<ref name=Autobio>{{cite magazine |last1=Uhmann |first1=Erich |year=1966 |title=Prominente aus unserer Heimat. Der Stollberger Käferdoktor erzählt |magazine=Der Heimatfreund für das Erzgebirge |issue=11 |pages=54–56 |language=de |oclc=183357494}}</ref>

Uhmann began studying beetles in 1907 and was an avid [collector](/source/Insect_collecting), becoming a member of the [German Entomological Institute](/source/German_Entomological_Institute) in 1914 and making several trips across Europe with fellow beetle collectors Max Link and Karl Dorn.<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=Contribs81/><ref name=85th>{{cite journal |last1=Delkeskamp |first1=K. |year=1966 |title=Studienrat Dr. h.c. Erich Uhmann, 85 Jahre. |journal=Mitteilungen der Deutschen Entomologischen Gesellschaft e.V. |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=50–51 |language=de |issn=0012-0065 |oclc=1566368}}</ref> In this period he was focused on [staphylinid beetle](/source/staphylinid_beetle)s and the biota of the [Ore Mountains](/source/Ore_Mountains), publishing his first [scientific paper](/source/scientific_paper), {{lang|de|Zwei Staphyliniden mit anormalen Bildungen (Col.)}}, in 1919.<ref name=Contribs81/> His severe [near-sightedness](/source/near-sightedness) made collecting beetles in the field increasingly difficult, and in 1925 he was encouraged to pursue the study of the [Cassidinae](/source/Cassidinae), specifically [hispine beetle](/source/hispine_beetle)s, by then-director of the German Entomological Institute [Walther Horn](/source/Walther_Horn), who assisted him in establishing connections with museums and collectors to access specimens.<ref name=Contribs97/> Uhmann's first scientific paper on hispines, {{lang|de|Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Hispinen (Col.)}}, was published in 1926.<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=Contribs81/> He primarily published [species description](/source/species_description)s and catalogues of museum holdings, though his work also included [identification key](/source/identification_key)s and catalogues compiling lists of known species.<ref name=Contribs97/> Many of these works included original illustrations.<ref name=Contribs81/><ref name=140Yrs>{{cite web |last1=Bähr |first1=Friedemann |date=4 November 2021 |title=Stollberger wusste alles über die Stachelkäfer |url=https://www.freiepresse.de/erzgebirge/stollberg/stollberger-wusste-alles-ueber-die-stachelkaefer-artikel11809685 |url-access=subscription |website=[Freie Presse](/source/Freie_Presse_(Saxony)) |language=de |access-date=20 October 2025}}</ref> From 1949 to 1956 he worked on compiling a worldwide catalogue of all known [tribes](/source/Tribe_(biology)), [genera](/source/genera), and [species](/source/species) of hispine beetle published since 1758 that ultimately included 3010 species.<ref name=Contribs81/><ref name=85th/> The first volume, {{lang|la|Coleopterorum Catalogus, Supplementa. Chrysomelidae: Hispinae, Hispinae Americanae}}, was published in 1957, with a second volume, {{lang|la|Coleopterorum Catalogus Supplementa. Chrysomelidae: Hispinae, Hispinae, Africanae, Eurasiaticae, Australicae}}, published the following year. A [supplement](/source/Supplement_(publishing)), {{lang|la|Coleopterorum Catalogus, Supplementa. Chrysomelidae: Hispinae, Corrigenda et
Addenda}}, was published in 1964.<ref name=Contribs97/>

Uhmann began receiving an honorary government pension in 1956 and was awarded an honorary doctorate of natural sciences by the [Humboldt University of Berlin](/source/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin) on 4 November 1961, his 80th birthday.<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=GDR/><ref name=85th/><ref name=140Yrs/>

Uhmann died at age 86 on 15 January 1968 in Stollberg, Germany.<ref name=GDR/><ref name=Memoriam>{{cite journal |last1=Delkeskamp |first1=K. |year=1968 |title=In Memoriam |journal=Mitteilungen der Deutschen Entomologischen Gesellschaft e.V. |volume=27 |issue=2 |page=15 |language=de |issn=0012-0065 |oclc=1566368}}</ref><ref name=140Yrs/> His specimen collection and correspondences, including 2886 letters dating from 1908 to 1965, are deposited in the German Entomological Institute in [Eberswalde](/source/Eberswalde).<ref name=Contribs97/><ref name=Contribs81/> He was among the most prolific authors to publish on the [subfamily](/source/subfamily) [Cassidinae](/source/Cassidinae), alongside [Carl Henrik Boheman](/source/Carl_Henrik_Boheman) and [Julius Weise](/source/Julius_Weise),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Linzmeier |first1=Adelita M. |last2=Moura |first2=Luciano de A. |last3=Ribeiro-Costa |first3=Cibele S. |last4=Manfio |first4=Daiara |last5=Agrain |first5=Federico |last6=Chamorro |first6=Maria L. |last7=Morse |first7=Geoffrey E. |last8=Regalin |first8=Renato |last9=Sekerka |first9=Lukáš |year=2024 |title=An overview of the Brazilian Chrysomelidae (Insecta: Coleoptera): the most species-rich beetle family in Brazil |journal=[Zoologia](/source/Zoologia) |volume=41 |article-number=e23092 |doi=10.1590/S1984-4689.v41.e23092 |doi-access=free |issn=1984-4670 |oclc=429190373}}</ref> and the most prolific hispine taxonomist of the 20th century.<ref name=Contribs97/> Throughout his life Uhmann published 235 scholarly articles on hispines and proposed 5 tribes, 39 genera, 606 species, and 61 [subspecies](/source/subspecies) of hispine beetle.<ref name=Contribs97/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1881 births
Category:1968 deaths
Category:Leipzig University alumni
Category:People from Chemnitz
Category:People from Stollberg
Category:Coleopterists
Category:German entomologists

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Erich Uhmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Uhmann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Uhmann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.