Chrysocorythus estherae (Finsch, 1902) (1 Viewer)

[Taphrospilus]

Chrysocorythus estherae (Finsch, 1902) OD here

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Mountain Serin Serinus estherae Finsch, 1902
Esther Finsch (fl.1924) was the daughter of the describer, Otto Finsch (q.v.).

The old key:

Esther Finsch (fl. 1957) daughter of German ornithologist Otto Finsch (Chrysocorythus).

Here we can read:

In diesem Zusammenhang erwähnt sei der Briefverkehr mit Elisabeth Finsch (1860– 1925) und ihrer Tochter Esther Finsch über den Ankauf der Sammlung und des Nachlasses ihres Gatten und Vaters Otto Finsch (1839–1917) aus dem Jahr

Finsch married Elisabeth according Deutsche Biographie in 1886 in Berlin. So I would speculate Esther is born after the marriage.

Here we can read:

Nach seiner Rückkehr aus Neuguinea heiratete Otto Finsch 1886 Elisabeth Hoffman (1860– 1925), die Tochter des Malers Moritz Wilhelm Hoffman (1823–1896); sie unterstützte ihn tatkräftig bei der Erarbeitung und Illustration seiner Publikationen.

In context with last document and here ist could be that she was born:

Fragebogen Esther Finsch. * 15.07.1888

Maybe someone here knows her life dates?

 

[PScofield]

Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch
Birth	8. Aug 1839

Marriage Date	26. Jun 1886 (26 Jun 1886)
Civil Registration Office	Berlin VI
Marriage Place	Berlin, Berlin, Deutschland (Germany)
Father	Moritz Finsch
Mother	Mathilde Amalie Finsch
Spouse	Elisabeth Henriette Mathilde Hoffmann

 

[Taphrospilus]

Born Warmbrunn and died 31. January 1917 in Braunschweig here .

 

[PScofield]

There was a Esther Finsch still alive in 1960

1960 Freiburg i. Breisgau, Deutschland

 

[Taphrospilus]

It should be as in here we can find:

Otto Finsch (1839–1917) mit Greifvogel © Koloniales Bildarchiv, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt/Main; Repr. Esther Finsch, Freiburg/Br.

That is as well the reason why I think Esther Finsch. * 15.07.1888 in context with Denazification.

And in Arthur A. Prestwich "I Name this Parrot ..." p. 53 is written:

Dr. H. O. Wagner, Director of the Übersee-Museum. Bremen, has now kindly contacted Miss Esther Finsch, of Freiburg, Germany, whose mother was Dr. Finsch's second wife. Dr. Wagner (in litt. 20th May, 1957), says that Dr. Finsch first married Josephine Wychodil, in Bremen in October, 1873. She accompanied him on his first visit to the South Seas, 1879-92. The marriage was later dissolved.

Found her still in 1966 but not in 1967.

 

[PScofield]

This is the first time I realized that the Mrs Finsch that visited the "South Seas" with Otto was not his long term wife. The Prestwich text is useful and tells us Esther was alive, for sure, in 1957 assuring is that the woman alive in 1966 is the right person. It is incorrect in stating Josephine " accompanied him on his first visit to the South Seas, 1879-92" as his trip finished in 1882. However, what was intriguing to me is that several texts state the marriage ended in 1880. If so where was it "dissolved"?

SO a search showed that Laurent back in 2014 has already found this gem but this confused me more:

Reiter M. 2010. Repräsentation und Darstellung der indigenen Bevölkerung des Kaiser Wilhelms-Landes durch Dr. Otto Finsch. Diplomarbeit, Universität Wien. [pdf] p.48:

Finsch war zweimal verheiratet. Das erste Mal mit Fine (wahrscheinlich Josephine). Während seiner ersten Südsee-Reise kam es 1881/82 zur Scheidung: Sie sandte ihm einen Brief, in dem sie den „Tod des Kindes meldet u. um Scheidung bittet“, wie Finsch in seinem Pacific-Expedition-Tagebuch Nr. 12 (1881) schrieb. Laut einem weiteren Eintrag meinten Finschs Eltern, Fine habe „die Schwangerschaft nur simuliert, ist 4 Monate in Saus u. Braus in Brüssel gewesen, hat mit anderen gelebt etc. u. schließlich ein Kind gestohlen u. mit nach Bremen genommen“. Er willigte in die Scheidung ein und vermerkte: „endlich geschieden“ (ebd.).
Click to expand...

(More or less "Finsch was married twice. The first time with Fine (probably Josephine). His divorce happened during his first South Seas voyage in 1881/82: she sent him a letter in which she "reported the death of the child & asked to divorce," as Finsch wrote in his Pacific-Expedition Diary No. 12 (1881). According to another entry, Finsch's parents thought that Fine had "only simulated pregnancy, been 4 months in the lap of luxury in Brussels, lived with others etc. & finally stole a child & took him to Bremen with her". He agreed to a divorce, and noted: "finally divorced" (ibid.).

this is intriguing as I had thought Josephine was on the trip??

A search shows that Josephine was aboard the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft on 23. Apr 1879 from Hamburg to New York with Otto presumably at the start of the trip

And that they both arrived in Hawaii on 28 Jul 1879.

I guess logic dictates that she returned to Germany alone about a month after discovering she was pregnant in 1881 but indeed perhaps that was the reason for the divorce??

P

 

[Taphrospilus]

Got today a letter from Freiburg. Esther Finsch was born 15-July1888 in Bremen and died 14-November 1966 in Schiltach/Schwarzwald.