Herr Grün's (North Western Little) Owl (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Here's some additional info on yet another guy, simply stumbled upon, along the way, while looking for others [Grün (Green) is a hard name/word to search for ], commemorated in the scientific name ...

grueni as in:
• the debated ssp. (valid or invalid?) Athene noctua grueni* VON JORDANS & STEINBACHER 1942 (here, pp. 234-325), as "Athene noctua Grüni"**

From the very intro of the Paper (p.200):
"... H. Grün erhalten hatten, ... das H. Grün an verschiedenen Orten Spaniens und in Südportugal gesammelt hat. ...H. Grün für uns auf der Iberischen Halbinsel sammelte: ... von August 1930 ..."

(OD, p.234):
"Wir benennen die Rasse nach unserem langjährigen Sammler H. Grün, dem wir zahlreiches und vielseitiges Material aus Spanien und Portugal verdanken."

(+ p.235):
"Typus. [female] 13. IV.1939. Lagos, Portugal, Leg. H. Grün, ..."

... which ought to lead us to the German collector Hermann Grün (1892-1963), collector on the Iberian Peninsula (in Spain and Southern Portugal), during most of the 1930's (from August 1930, until at least April 1939).

See Història de l'ornitologia catalana (here), with a reference to: REIG-FERRER, A. 2008. Hermann Grün (1892-1963) : un naturalista peculiar a terres eivissenques. Es Busqueret., núm. 17, p. 8-16. Same years mentioned in Bonner zoologische Monographien 19, 1984 (here): "H. Grün (1892 – 1963)".

Enjoy!

Björn
_____________________________________________________
*Most often considered a synonym of today's Athene noctua vidalii A. E. BREHM 1857
**Original spelling, not listed in today's Key.
--

 

[Taphrospilus]

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Little Owl ssp. Athene noctua grueni von Jordans & Steinbacher, 1941 NCR [JS Athene noctua vidalii]
H. Grün (d.1963) was a German collector in Spain and Portugal (1926-1963).

No idea if he really still collected there 71 years old as claimed. I would trust more Björns suggestion (but I know nothing about Hermann Grün*)

* For sure no relationship to Cordula Grün from the Austrian singer Josh very popular for German Mallorca party tourists 💃🕺🍸🍻🥂. Even if there is a link to Spain.

 

[PScofield]

As mentioned above there is a long paper available on him

Reig-Ferrer, A. 2008. Hermann Grün (1892-1963): un naturalista peculiar a terres eivissenques. Es Busqueret. Revista de divulgació ornitològica de les Illes Balears. 17: 8-16.

Es Busqueret is available free but this issue is eluding me..

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

• Reig Ferrer, A. 2008. Herman Grun [sic!?] (1892-1963): un naturalista peculiar a terres eivissenques. Es Busqueret [Subtitle: Revista de divulgació ornitològica de les Illes Balears] 17, pp. 8-16 = here.

Though note, in the Paper itself his surname was/is written "Grün". See, for example, below the Photo of "our guy" on page 9.

I'd keep him as Herr Grün ...

There's also a small Photo of the Type of "Athene noctua grüni" on p.13.

Enjoy!

Björn

PS. Also note that Abilio Reig Ferrer himself (here), alt. his Institution (of course), Lists this/his Paper (here) as [my blue bolds]:

... Hermann Grün (1892-1963): un naturalista peculiar a terres eivissenques. Es Busqueret. Revista de divulgació ornitològica de les Illes Balears. 17: 8-16

 

[l_raty]

So, based on the above: b. 13 May 1892, Rain (Lech), Bayern, Deutschland; d. 10 Sep 1963, Linares de Rofrío, Salamanca, España.

He was with her wife in Ibiza from 1927 to late July 1929, and later in continental Iberian Peninsula. If I understand things correctly, their single son had to return to Germany to be a soldier and disappeared during WWII; they had settled in Linares de Rofrío at that time and did not move again, hoping that he might find them there, should he ever turn back.

 

[JustinJansen]

Some old notes, same birth and death dates as Laurent...

Son from a notary, Married an unknown woman. He studied at the gymnasium at Landshut, but left before completing the study to the art school at Landshut and later at München. When the World War I started he was in France, and was captured and sent to a camp at Corsica. After the War was ended, he settled with his wife in Spain (end 1920’s). Lived at first at Ibiza, then at Oropoesa near Castellon and finally at Linares de Riofrio near Salamanca. He traded in natural history products to survive, selling birds and eggs from the Balearic Is. and eastern Spain to various European and North American museum from 1930 onwards, and (especially) from Linares de Riofrio (Salamanca, C Spain) during 1946-1963.

°Typ col. K.H. Voous described; Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula iberiae (1951) Holotype ZMA, Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius lusitanicus (1953) Holotype ZMA

°Col. Unknown amount of specimens: ZMA: - 300 birds from Grün, of which at least 100 were received directly (partly from his widow after his death in 1963) and c. 200 through the Sillem/Van Marle collection; also, and c. 100 clutches of eggs taken by Grün, mainly from the Neijssel and Eriks collections. Part of the Grün’s collection sis bought by Van Marle and Mees and distributed amongst the RMNH and Van Marle’s collection. Specimens (known) present in foreign collections: Ann Arbor: - AMNH; - 71 skins; NMW: - 142 birds (Spain)(1930/1942); USNM: - 22 skins; ZFMB: - 1204 skins from Spain arrived between 1931 and 1947, and a additional 93 from Spain between 1951-1963

°Bio. Gebhardt, L., 2006. Die Ornithologen Mitteleuropas, 1747 bemerkenswerte Biographien von Mittelalter bis zum Ende des 20.Jahrhundert. Zusammenfassung der Bände 1-4. --- Wiebelsheim