Mendeni and the mystery J. J. Menden (1 Viewer)

Maybe anyone can contribute more to the dutch collector, taxidermist and natural history dealer. I couldn't find e.g. his first name.

All descriptions as per HBW Alive are to find here:

• Columba vitiensis mendeni Neumann, 1939 (Syn: Columba vitiensis halmaheira) here
• Cyanoderma melanothorax mendeni Neumann, 1935 here
• Napothera epilepidota mendeni Neumann, 1937 here
• Geokichla mendeni (Neumann, 1939) here
• Otus manadensis mendeni Neumann, 1939 here

Not mentioned in HBW alive:

• Hemiprocne longipennis mendeni Somadikarta, 1975 On the two new subspecies of crested tree swift from Peleng island, and Sula islands (Aves : Hemiproanidae) . Treubia 28(4), 1975:119-127 (page 121) Syn: Hemiprocne longipennis wallacii

Any contribution about his life is welcome.

MENDEN, Johannes J. B. - Dutch. B. Java, Republic of Indonesia - D. X. Collected for AMNH in 1935 in Southern Borneo. He collected for the museum of Cambridge (U.S.A.) on behalve of Neumann, and with help of MZB. He spent time at Sulawesi, Togian, Peleng and Taliabu from July up to October 1938.

°Com. O.R. Neumann described from birds collected by Menden; Red-and-black Thrush Zoothera mendeni (1939) Holotype SMTD; Metallic Pigeon Columba vitiensis mendeni (Neumann 1939) Paratypes SMTD; Eyebrowed Wren-babbler Napothera epilepidota mendeni (1937); Moluccan Scops Owl Otus magicus mendeni (1939)
S. Somadikarta described; Grey-rumped Treeswift Hemiprocne longipennis mendeni (1975) Holotype MZB
°Typ col. O.R. Neumann described; Mangrove Golden Whistler Pachycephala melanura pelengensis (1941) Holotype SMTD; Ruddy Kingfisher Hacyon coromanda pelingensis (1939) Holotype SMTD; Large-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus macrurus jungei (1939) Paratype SMTD; Small Button-quail Turnix sylvatica bartelsorum (1929) 4 x Syntype SMTD; Moluccan Starling Aplonis mysolensis persimilis (1941) Holotype SMTD; Black-crowned White-eye Zosterops atrifrons sulaensis (1939) Holotype SMTD; Brown Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia amboinensis sedecima (1939) Paratype SMTD; Emerald Dove Chalcophals indica nana (1941) Holotype SMTD; Taliabu Masked Owl Tyto nigrobrunnea (1939) Holotype SMTD C44282; Golden-bellied Flyeater Gerygone sulphurea intercedens (1941) Holotype SMTD; White-breasted Wood-swallow Artamus leucorhynchus longipennis (1941) Holotype SMTD; Ivory-backed Woodswallow Artamus monachus sulaensis (1939) Holotype SMTD; Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis pelengensis (1941) Holotype SMTD; Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis stresemanni (1939) Holotype SMTD; Nicobar Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis perrufus (1939) Holotype SMTD
S. Eck described; Striated Heron Butorides striatus banggaiensis (1976) Holotype SMTD; Green Imperial Pigeon Ducula aenea intercedens (1976) Holotype SMTD; Blue-backed Parrot Tanygnathus sumatranus incognitos (1976) Holotype SMTD
K.H. Voous described; Sulawesi Babbler Trichastoma celebense togianense (V1952) Holotype ZMA
E. Stresemann described; Brown Hawk Owl Ninox scutulata javanensis (1928) Holotype ZMB
C. Vaurie described; Henna-tailed Jungle-flycatcher Rhinomyias colonus pelingensis (1952)
E. Mayr described; Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus microstictus (1949) Holotype AMNH
°Col. Naturalis: 28 skins (13.08.1946) all from Celebes + 10 2 specimens arrived via the Sody collection; AMNH: - 648 skins from 157 species; ZMB: -Bogor: - Dresden: - Some specimens via J. Riemer, MCZ: - 1046

Did not chase this up for years..... This is what I have in my files.

Sorry Martin, I cannot help much on Mr. Menden, he´s not one of "my guys" …

However, after some Googling I think I can add some minor facts on your mysterious Mr. J. J. Menden (zoological collector, taxidermist and animal dealer), thereby expanding the period, the years of his collecting efforts in the Far East [today claimed as "1935-1939", by both The Eponym Dictionary of Birds, Beoelens et al 2014 and today's HBW Alive Key] … even a bit further than the OD's (that would make 1929–1938), but he apparently started as early as 1927.

Furthermore, the OD of the "not mentioned" Hemiprocne longipennis mendeni is to be seen (in parts) in Google Books, Snippet view, (here).

Apparently he was dead when Mr. Somadikarta described the latter bird! See; "Udjung Kulon: The Land of the Last Javan Rhinoceros", by Hoogerswerf 1970, p. 3 (here):

"the late J. J. Menden, taxidermist and animal dealer, Cheribon (west Java)"

Click to expand...

Also, for example, see the following links (search for Menden in either one): here, here, here, here, here ... and so on.

He was collecting on "Mt. Ardjuna" [a k a Ardjuno or Arjuna alt. Djunggo-Ardjuno] on Java as early as 8 December 1927, thereafter, present in Cheribon [today's Cirebon], on West Java, Indonesia already in 1928 and onwards, the type of Cyanoderma/Stachyris melanothorax mendeni was collected (by he himself) the 29th of December 1929 also on Java, he collected on North Pagi in December 1934 till January 1935 … and onwards, elsewhere in several places, all over the Indonesian Islands till the very end of 1939 … thereafter he seems to disappear; the last notes; "has been interned" in 1945 … and finally "late" (dead) by 1970.

That´s all I can find. The full story, as well as his First names is totally unknown to me. I´m not even fully convinced that he truly was Dutch, even if active in Nederlands-Oost-Indië (the Dutch East Indies). From what I can tell, he might have been German? Who knows?

Good luck pin-pointing him!
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@ Björn if you speculate about the german Johannes Wilhelm Hubert Menden (1847 in Kempen-) author of Beitrag zur Casuistik der Ossificationsdefecte am Schädel der Neugebornen here I do not think that he is the correct one. Maybe one of his sons? I have no clue.

But I agree that he must have died before 1945 (and speculate in Indonesia, maybe Cirebon formerly known as Cheribon???).

@ Justin: Do you still know the source where you found his name Johannes?

Martin, I think you´ve read my post slightly wrong ...

Taphrospilus said:

@ Björn if you speculate about the german Johannes Wilhelm Hubert Menden ... I do not think that he is the correct one. Maybe one of his sons? I have no clue.

But I agree that he must have died before 1945 ...

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I don´t speculate on any certain person at all in this case. I just listed what I found, what I saw. Any Johannes Menden is unknown to me. I´d never seen the name before Justin replied. Note that when he published his post I was typing mine. When my first reply appeared I hadn´t seen Justin's ditto.

Of course Mr. Menden could have been Dutch, he most likely was, concidering the location and political history, I only wanted to stress that I didn´t find anything pointing either way. And I certainly don´t think he "must have died before 1945". The only thing I found was that he´d "been interned" in 1945 and died somewhere, some time thereafter, at som point, before 1970.

That´s all.

Björn

PS. Your "Johannes Wilhelm Hubert Menden" is real, real hard to get into J. J. Menden.
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@Martin I have no clue (maybe on a specimens' label....), did not touch the Menden entry for the last 5 years... This was just a rough outline that needed to have follow up, but time and motivation is the hindering factor.....

If of any use, help; I assume (i.e. guess!), it´s the same Menden being commemorated in: the Indonesian possum/cuscus subspecies Strigocuscus/Phalanger pelengensis/celebensis mendeni FEILER 1978

OD (unseen by me) in: Feiler, A.. 1978. Bemerkungen uber Phalanger der 'orientalis - Gruppe` nach Tate (1945). (Mammalia, Marsupialia). Zoologische Abhandlungen (Dresden) 34: 385-395.

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Martin, here´s a few more pieces to the Menden Puzzle ...

The "prewar animal dealer J. J. Menden at Cheribon" (as Hoogerwerf called him in 1970) apparently collected even earlier! "H. Menden" (H. = Heer, Mr.) Menden collected a specimen of Pycnonotus aurigaster the 25th of February 1925 (here), "Indonesia, Java, Cheribon", and a Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos on Borneo the 30th of June the same year (here), thereby expanding his collecting years in Indonesia even further to 1925–1939. I´m not fully convinced of him collecting there in 1941 as have been claimed (can be a publication year), but he sure could have been.

And that might (!?) not be all! :eek!:

Note that there are several birds dated as collected by the same man in 1977!!! One Blythipicus rubiginosus collected in Burma/Myanmar the 25th of January 1977, and a few from Borneo the same year (from Mount Kiunabalu, Sabah and Kalimantan, SW Borneo) all collected by "J. J. Menden" … noted on the same, the latter Peabody Museum of Natural History webpage (here) ... !?!

It sure doesn´t make it any easier! Maybe he wasn´t at all dead in 1970, as Hoogerswerf claimed? Maybe they Natural History world simply lost track of the old man, somewhere in the deep forests of Borneo. If so, he surely wouldn´t be the first one lost, that just vanished, without a trace, in the jungle!

Or something is simply wrong with the dating in those Peabody entries?

Who knows?

However, I´ll go no further. As I mentioned before, he´s not one of "my guys", Mr. Menden isn´t commemorated in any Swedish Common Bird names, and searching for him seems to be a real time consumer, thereby I will gladly leave him to you, or anyone else interested.

J. J. Menden … now (on my part), over and out!
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I forgot to add my last part ...

And by the way; Johannes seems to be right! Justin's old notes was clearly correct.

According to SysTax (here*) the holotype of phalanger/cuscus subspecies Ailurops ursinus flavissimus FEILER 1977 was collected by: Johannes J. Menden "23.07.1938".

With reference to an earlier article, in the same journal, by the same Feiler, as mentioned in post #7. I guess a look at those articles could reveal even more!?

Good luck finding them!

Björn

PS. It sure makes those Peabody birds and dates (of 1977) even more odd.

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*Have patience, it takes a while to open that link.
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In fact very confusing. I contacted the Peabody Museum and keep you updated in case they do reply. Especially the Burma bird is absolutely a aberration but of course as well the year 1977.

Regarding year 1941 it looks like he collected 2 December 1941 at Togian Islands, E. of Celebes, Malengi, sea level a Rattus sapoensis. See here.

Taphrospilus said:

Regarding year 1941 it looks like he collected 2 December 1941 at Togian Islands, E. of Celebes, Malengi, sea level a Rattus sapoensis. See here.

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Pearl Harbor was attacked 7 December 1941, but within two months, much of the Dutch and British East Indies had been over-run, and completely so by April 1942, the Celebes being almost wholly under Japanese control by 9 February 1942.

"Japan went to war with virtually no policy for the treatment of prisoners, especially enemy civilian internees. It could further be said
that this problem was not even one of great concern for the Japanese Government."

Japanese Historian, Utsumi Aiko, 1996

There may be records in the Netherlands, given this book: "Van Waterford’s Prisoners of the Japanese in World War II (Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. 1994), covers both civilian and POW camps in the Far East. 'Van Waterford' is a pen-name for ex-internee Willem F. Wanrooy, who was sixteen when he was interned in the Dutch East Indies. Now (if he's still alive) an American citizen, his knowledge of the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch language has given him, and therefore non-Dutch speakers, access to many Dutch sources." (From http://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/Internment.pdf) (as are the other quotations)

Approximately 11,000 internees died in Java. This statistic is based on figures assembled by Dr D.Van Velden, De Japanse Interneringskampen Voor Burgers Gedurende de Tweede Wereldoorlog – Japanese Civil Internment Camps During the Second World War (Groningen: J.B. Wolters, 1963). The main text in this book is in Dutch but the summary is in English.

Another indication that the Dutch archives may hold an answer to JJ Menden's fate is this:
"The Dutch refused to sign the 1951 Peace Treaty with Japan until a provision was made allowing the Dutch to negotiate a separate compensation agreement with Japan, which would recognise the extraordinary suffering of 120,000 Dutch citizens in Japanese internment camps, and the deaths of 26,000 Dutch men, women and children in Japanese hands. In March 1957 the Yoshida–Stikker agreement (named after the two foreign ministers who negotiated it) was signed."
MJB

Here´s another claim on whenever Johannes J. Menden died:

… and the late Mr. Menden brought together collection from Java.

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Acta Zoologica 32-33, 1951 (here). He apparently passed away some time before that.

We´re getting closer!

Björn

PS. Martin, it´s the same one I sent you last week, but I thought everybody else should know as well.
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Answer from Peabody Museum of Natural History regarding the 1977 birds:

I just checked all the specimens in your list and, in all cases, the data were incorrectly transcribed from skin labels. All these 1977 skins were collected in Sabah by Fred Sheldon and colleagues.

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Unfortunately we can't ask the author Nils Frithiof Holmgren of An embryological analysis of the mammalian carpus and its bearing on the question of the origin of the tetrapod limb where the late Mr. Menden is mentioned how he knew about Mendens death.

But it is very likely that he really died in one of the Japanese camps in Celebes.

Martin, great, that cleared that worry. Those birds collected in 1977 was certainly way off ... and, as we suspected, had nothing to do with Mr. Menden.

Taphrospilus said:

...
But it is very likely that he really died in one of the Japanese camps in Celebes.

Click to expand...

Why exactly "... in Celebes" (Sulawesi), and why not in one of the camps on Java, or one elsewhere in Indonesia/South East Asia?

How come you particularize that certain Island?

Just curious.
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Like others, I suspect that Menden may have ended up as a Japenese prisoner-of-war somewhere in Indonesia. It is telling that collection stopped during 1940-1945 while he cannot be traced after 1945. If so, then the following website may be useful as a starting point for further research: http://www.japanseburgerkampen.nl/.

All camps ("jappenkampen" in Dutch) are mentioned, with for some of them complete namelists of prisoners are also given. Furthermore, additional literature per camp is given which may contain namelists. It makes for some sobering reading though...

Good luck with any further research.

That was just a guess as last (for me) known collections from Menden were near Celebes (see MBJs comments). I do not even know if there was an existung camp at Togian Islands (the real last collection location known) or if he was really arrested or killed in any camp. All speculation and no proof of evidence. Shame on me as it was not real science my comment (as all based on speculation and no facts).

I found this thread while looking for information on Ailurops ursinus flavissimus (Feiler), which is mentioned above, and I figured I'd contribute back by looking through my material on mammals.

First, the date of 1941 cited for the holotype of Rattus sapoensis Sody, 1941, appears to be incorrect. The original description gives the collection date as 2 December 1939. (Indeed, it would have been hard believe that Sody managed to publish still in 1941 a description of an animal collected on 2 December 1941.) Sody cites a number of other specimens collected by Menden in various parts of Indonesia from 1935 to 1939. Hooijer (1952) cites Ailurops collected on the Togians as late as 27 December 1939, the type of Cynopithecus togeanus Sody (1949) was collected by Menden on Malengi in the Togians on 3 December 1939, and the type of Babirussa babyrussa togeanensis on 23 December 1939.

Medway (1965) describes Menden as a "professional collection" and mentions collections made on Borneo in 1935–1937. Musser & Holden (1991:389) say that Menden called coastal lowland "ebene", which is significant because the word is German, not Dutch.

The last piece of evidence I could find is that the Dutch Family Name Database does not contain an entry for "Menden" (http://www.cbgfamilienamen.nl/nfb/lijst_namen.php?operator=eq&naam=menden). This again points to him being German.

References:
* Hooijer, D.A. 1952. Some remarks on the subspecies of <i>Phalanger ursinus</i> (Temminck) and of <i>Lenomys meyeri</i> (Jentink) from Celebes. Zoologische Mededelingen 31(21):233-246.
* Medway, Lord. 1965. Mammals of Borneo. Field keys and an annotated checklist. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 36(3):1-193. doi:10.2307/41505685
* Musser, G.G. and Holden, M.E. 1991. Sulawesi rodents (Muridae: Murinae): morphological and geographical boundaries of species in the <i>Rattus hoffmanni</i> group and a new species from Pulau Peleng. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 206:322-413.
* Sody, H.J.V. 1941. On a collection of rats from the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Australian regions (with descriptions of 43 new genera, species and subspecies). Treubia 18(2):255-325.
* Sody, H.J.V. 1949. Notes on some Primates, Carnivora, and the babirusa from the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Australian regions. Treubia 20(2):121-190.

According to this contemporary account J.J. Menden was definitely interned [edited thanks Calalp].

"Scientific institutions, societies and research workers in the Netherlands Indies" by J. G. Verdoorn

In Becking 1989 (Henri Jacob Victor Sody (1892-1959)) at page 50, he is for once mentioned as J.J. Menten, the remainder of the book as J.J. Menden, maybe the surname was Menten instead of Menden.... Or this was a mistake by Becking...