Person
Becker, Lothar (1825 - 1901?)
- Born
- 4 April 1825
Nieder Leschen, Silesia - Died
- 1901?
Breslau, Germany - Occupation
- Naturalist
Summary
Lothar Becker was a Silesian naturalist who spent two periods in Victoria travelling and making observations and collections on the local natural history. On his first visit, from later 1849 to January 1852 he spent most of his time around Melbourne and in Gippsland. During his visits Becker made some observations on the indigenous people he encountered. He returned to Europe via southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. Becker's second visit to Victoria was from November 1855 to April 1865, with a brief visit to New Zealand in 1861. From the late 1860s Becker was a teacher of English in Breslau and published prolifically on his Australian travels and natural history observations. His papers on Gippsland are among the earliest descriptions of the area and give an account of the after-effects of the devastating Black Thursday bushfire. Becker was particularly interested in fungi, sending his collections to Elias Fries in Sweden for identification. Some of his specimens have survived in several European herbaria.
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Published resources
Journal Articles
- Darragh, Thomas A., 'Lothar Becker: a German naturalist in Victoria, 1849-52, 1855-65', Historical Records of Australian Science, 30 (2) (2019), 119-29, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18020. Details
- Howes, Hilary, 'Lothar Becker's contributions to anthropology', Historical Records of Australian Science, 30 (2) (2019), 138-45, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19004. Details
- May, Tom W.; and Darragh, Thomas A., 'The significance of mycological contributions by Lothar Becker', Historical Records of Australian Science, 30 (2) (2019), 130-7, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19005. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 17 September 2019, Last modified: 10 January 2023