AdminHistory | Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther (also known as Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther) (1830 - 1914) was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist.
Günther was born in Esslingen in Swabia (Württemberg) on 3 October 1830 to Friedrich Gotthilf Günther (1800-1835?) and Eleanore Louise née Nagle (1806-1899). His father was a Stiftungs-Commissar in Esslingen. He initially schooled at the Stuttgart Gymnasium. Following his family's wishes, he initially trained for the ministry of the Lutheran church, so moved to the University of Tübingen, however he later shifted from theology to medicine and science in 1852. He graduated in medicine with an M.D. from Tübingen in 1858, the same year in which he published a handbook of zoology for students of medicine. His mother moved to England, and when he visited the country in 1855, he met John Edward Gray and Professor Richard Owen at the British Museum. This led to an offer to work at the British Museum in 1857, where his first task was to classify 2000 snake specimens. Following the death of John Edward Gray in 1875, Günther was appointed Keeper of Zoology at the Natural History Museum, a position he held until 1895. The major work of his life was the eight-volume Catalogue of Fishes (1859–1870, Ray Society). He also worked on the reptiles and amphibians in the museum collection. In 1864, he founded the Record of Zoological Literature and served as editor for six years. He was one of the editors for the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for more than thirty years.
Günther was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1867 and served as vice-president 1875–6. He served on the council of the Zoological Society for nearly 40 years (1868–1905). He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1877, and was president 1896–1900. He married Roberta Mitchell (née McIntosh) (1842–1869), sister of William M'Intosh, in 1868 and they had one son, the historian Robert William Theodore Günther (1869–1940). In 1879 he married again, to Theodora Dowrish née Drake (1863–1944). They had a son Frederic Albert Günther (1883–1953), a merchant; and a daughter Theodora Alberta Günther (1889–1908) who died aged nineteen. He became a naturalised British citizen in 1874. Günther died at Kew Gardens on 1 February 1914. |