Minlos's Greytail & Wren .. the Father or the Son? (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Now let´s have a look at the commemorations in ...

minlosi as in:
• Double-banded Greytail Xenerpestes minlosi VON BERLEPSCH 1886 (here, with Plate on the following page):

In the ' Journal fur Ornithologie ' for 1884, pp. 273-320 [here], I have spoken of a large collection of bird-skins from Bucaramanga sent to the Lübeck Museum by Mr. Emilio Minlos, a German resident of that city. Lately I have had the pleasure of examining another collection from the same source, ....
[...]
... I feel much satisfaction in naming it "Xenerpestes minlosi' in honour of Mr. Emilio Minlos, by whose generosity this collection was brought together in the neighbourhood of the city of Bucaramanga, and afterwards presented to the Museum of the city of Lübeck. The new generic title was kindly ...

The link inserted in the quote above (back to JfO 1884) also gives us the OD of:
• the Rufous-and-white Wren subspecies Thryophilus rufalbus minlosi VON BERLEPSCH 1884 (see; p.249 + p.280 and at the end of the book, Plate 1, fig.3)

Today's HBW Alive Key gives us:

minlosi
Emil Minlos (fl. 1884) German resident of Bucaramanga, Colombia (subsp. Thryophilus rufalbus, Xenerpestes).

My question is: Are those birds commemorating the German Coffee Trader "Emilio Minlos" whose full, true name was Emil August Adolph Minlos (1828–1901), or are they aimed at his Son "Emilio José Minlos"... ?!?

The older; Emil (August Adolph) Minlos was trading in (and with) South America, during most of the 1850's until the mid 1870's, where he was known as "Emilio Minlos" or as "the first Royal Prussian consul in Maracaibo" 1858-1866, Colombia (not sure if it ever was an official title, or not), as I understand it he was based in Bucaramanga, Colombia, for years ... returned to his Birth town Lübeck, Germany in 1876, where he founded the Verein für Volks-Kaffee- und Speisehallen (a Coffee drinking Society!) ... and onwards ... until 1901 (when he apparently died).

Much more on this guy in German Wiki (here) ... looks well researched, and note the following part:

[...]
Ein weiterer Sohn, Emilio José Minlos, der als Kaufmann in Bucaramanga lebte, sammelte einheimische, von Indianern erlegte Vögel und schenkte seine Sammlung von etwa 800 Exemplaren dem Naturkundemuseum in Lübeck. Aus dieser Sammlung beschrieb Hans von Berlepsch erstmals zwei Vogelarten, die er nach Emilio Minlos benannte: Thryophilus rufalbus minlosi 1884 im Journal für Ornithologie und Xenerpestes minlosi 1886 in der Zeitschrift Ibis.

Google Translate:
[...]
Another son, Emilio José Minlos, who lived as a merchant in Bucaramanga, collected native birds cut by Indians and donated his collection of about 800 copies to the Natural History Museum in Lübeck. From this collection Hans von Berlepsch described for the first time two bird species which he named after Emilio Minlos: Thryophilus rufalbus minlosi 1884 in the journal for ornithology and Xenerpestes minlosi 1886 in the magazine Ibis.

If true or not, is beyond my knowledge (and language skills). Eitherway I would suspect that the name of the Son most likely was Emil Josef (or Joseph) Minlos as both Parents was German, and that "Emilio José" was only a local adaptation.

Anyone knows?

Other questions still remain: In what years were the types collected, and by whom? And when was Emil (junior) born? Both those facts would be helpful to tell either way ... hopefully possible to exclude either one of the two Emil(io)s.

Björn

 

[Taphrospilus]

Other questions still remain: In what years were the types collected, and by whom? And when was Emil (junior) born? Both those facts would be helpful to tell either way ... hopefully possible to exclude either one of the two Emil(io)s.

Emilio Jose Minlos Montovio born 22. November 1856 Maracaibo Zulia, Venezuela, death 23. May 1901 Bucaramanga Santander Department, Colombia

Bucaramanga shows some weak evidence that the son was the one who sent the specimen, but if I read here the father founded 1883 a company in Bucaramanga.

 

[l_raty]

[Here], it's also said that the birds were named after the son.

His [= Emil's] son Emilio Jose Minlos became a merchant in Bucaramanga, Colombia. He collected native birds, killed by Indians and sent his collection of about 800 specimens as a gift to the Natural History Museum at am Dom (Lubeck). From this collection Hans von Berlepsch described the first two birds, which he named after Emilio Minlos: Thryophilus rufalbus minlosi 1884 in the Journal of Ornithology [14] and Xenerpestes minlosi (Double-banded greytail) in 1886 in the journal Ibis.

A simple blog post, but apparently older (4 Oct 2014) than Emil's German Wikipedia page (created 27 Mar 2015‎)...

I would expect the son's name to have been genuinely Emilio José Minlos.
For one thing, I would be surprised to see a German (Berlepsch) using a Spanish version of the German first name of another German when referring to him in a rather formal manner.
Second, Emil's wife was in fact not German at all. Emil married the daughter of his business partner José Antonio Montovio (of Italian origin). She was born in Maracaibo, as Dolores Joséfa Montovio -- see [the family grave] in Lübeck. Note also, on this (German) grave, the Spanish given names of Emilio's brother, Federico José, born less than a year after him.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Well done, Martin and Laurent! :t:

And yes, Laurent, if born in Spanish-talking Venezuela, by a Mother of Italian Heritage (I didn´t see that one coming!) I agree; the name of the Son ought to have been Emilio. And if Berlepsch had been aiming it for Minlos Sr. (i.e. Emil) he probably wouldn´t have written "Emilio" in the OD. It all make sence (at least to me) ...

Thereby I would say it´s fair to assume that those birds most likely does commemorates Emilio José Minlos (1856–1901) a k a ditto Minlos Montovio* (in South America), born 22 November, 1856, in Maracaibo Zulia, Venezuela ... and died 23 May, 1901, in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Not to confuse with his Father: the German Coffee trader (and as such also present in South America, at times) Emil August Adolph Minlos (1828–1901) [in Spanish a k a Emilio (Augusto Adolfo) Minlos (Sager)], born 1 November, 1828, in Lübeck, Germany, ... the rest, as in Post #1 (and elsewhere) ... who died 31 August, 1901, back in Germany (just a few months ofter the Son),

Or?

Am I once again jumping to conclusions?

Disclaimer: This far no sources found where Berlepsch clearly, without doubt, refer to the Son (der Sohn).

Björn
__________________________________________________________________
*His mother was (apparently) born Montovio. And his Grandmother was born Sager.

 

[l_raty]

Disclaimer: This far no sources found where Berlepsch clearly, without doubt, refer to the Son (der Sohn).

Berlepsch (in 1886) said Emilio was a resident of Bucaramanga, which doesn't fit the father well, I think -- his Wikipedia page says he returned to Germany and settled there in 1876, living from annuities. If he was involved in the creation of a company in Bucaramanga in 1883, my guess is that the 'involvement' was likely primarily financial.

If we believe Martin's first link above, on the other hand, the son clearly resided in Bucaramanga. His wife was born there (1862); at least three of his children were born there (1885, 1886, 1894), and he died there (1901).

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

On top of what's earlier been said in this thread; in favour of Emilio vs Emil(io) ...

I´ve failed to find any records of Minlos's type specimens, but according to the intro of Berlepsch's 1886 Paper (signed November 1885) he´d recieved the Greytail "lately", this as in after the 1884 Paper, which makes it likely to have been collected at some point in between. I doubt that it would have been collected pre-84, if so why would Minlos not have sent it in the "large collection" that Berlepsch recieved "in vergangenen Jahre" (in/during the year gone by, i.e. not earlier than 1883), and presumably most of it collected shortly before shipment (nobody wanted to keep prepared specimens, or dried skins, etc., in the Tropics longer than necessary).

And if Emil Minlos (Sr.) did leave South America (and Bucaramanga) far before those years, I find it even more likely that Emilio Minlos (Jr.) did collect those bird. If he truly did is beyond me. I´ve seen different claims on when Minlos Sr. returned (for good) to Germany ...

This said, as usual, whithout understanding much German.

I will leave the Minlos's birds here. I´m pretty sure you´ll figure it out!
--

 

[Klaus Walther]

This is Klaus Walther, great grandson of Emilio Jose Minlos Montovio; I was born in Bucaramanga/ Colombia and know the history of the Minlos family very well.
As correctly stated in some of the above posts, Emilio Jose Minlos (1855-1901) was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela and was the son of Emil August Adolp Minlos (1828-1901) born in Luebeck / Germany and Dolores Josefa Montovio, born in Maracaibo.

Emilio was sent to Bucaramanga, of the Santander Province in Colombia to take care of the family business there, where he married Carlina Valenzuela of Bucaramanga and they had 8 children, all born there. It was him who collected the bird specimens, as stated by Hans von Berplech on the pages 273 and 277 of the "Journal fuer Ornithologie" No. 167 & 168 of July & October of 1884.

Emil Minlos (his father) had already returned at that time to Germany.

Hope this clarifies this issue.

In case you need more information, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Best regards

Klaus Walther

 

[Taphrospilus]

Welcome Klaus Walther. Most of the things are clarified (at least for me). Nevertheless it would be interessting if you own a picture of Emilio Jose Minlos Montovio which you are willing to share?

As usual we are more than happy when from time to time a deceant of one of our ladies and gentlemen discussed here finds his way to our very specific forum about bird names.

 

[Taphrospilus]

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Double-banded Greytail Xenerpestes minlosi Berlepsch, 1886
Rufous-and-white Wren ssp. Thryophilus rufalbus minlosi Berlepsch, 1884
Emilio Minlos (DNF) was a German (Prussian) resident of Bucaramanga, Colombia. He sent a large collection of bird skins to the Lübeck Museum. Seemingly he was a trader who paid others to collect for him.

But of course far more here.