Obituary

Gerhard Helmut Schwabe 1910-1987

Mollenhauer, Dieter; Hickel, Barbara

Archiv für Hydrobiologie Volume 115 Number 4 (1989), p. 613 - 619

98 references

published: Jun 27, 1989

DOI: 10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/115/1989/613

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ArtNo. ESP141011504008, Price: 29.00 €

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Abstract

Consistent with his way of life, Gerhard Helmut Schwabe died suddenly on 15 November 1987 in Sydney, Australia during his long, final sea voyage. He was en route from a village in Niedersachsen (FRG) where he had lived in retirement, to emigrate and join his wife and sons in Tasmania. The only son of a school-teacher, he was born on 27 October 1910 in Udestedt, and was deeply rooted in his German homeland, Thüringen. He studied successively at the universities of Jena, Graz, Jena and Königsberg (Kaliningrad), where he took his doctor’s degree writing a thesis on thermal springs (supervisor Alfred Wilier). The field work in Iceland for his doctorate initiated Schwabe’s lifelong journey. He lived and worked in Iceland, Chile, Japan, Taiwan and China, followed by Chile for 22 years (1935—1957). From May 1958 until October 1975, when he retired, he was on the staff of the “Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie” in Plön (FRG). From the very beginning of his scientific career Schwabe was influenced by August Thienemann and his congenial colleague THEODOR FRIEDERICHS. Although he studied under other professors, he considered himself a member of the limnologic school inaugurated by THIENEMANN, who in 1957 asked him to work in his institute. Schwabe's research work reflects his very wide interests. His papers cover limnology, soil science, meteorology, general ecology, agriculture, marine biology, fishery research and plant taxonomy. During the last part of his life he concentrated on environmental science, anthropoecology, the theory of human culture and the philosophy of science. He wrote about 230 papers in German, English, and Spanish, some of which were translated into Icelandic and Japanese (a full bibliography can be obtained from D. Mollenhauer).

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