Ernst Bresslau


Ernst Ludwig Bresslau was a German zoologist. He was the son of historian Harry Bresslau.

Life

Ernst Ludwig Bresslau was born in 1877 in Berlin, Germany. His father, Harry Bresslau, was a professor of Medieval History at the University of Berlin. In 1890, the family moved to Strasbourg and Ernst Bresslau started his studies in medicine and natural sciences in the University of Strasbourg.
In 1902, he obtained his PhD from the University of Strasbourg and in 1904 he traveled to Brazil for the first time as a naval doctor. In 1913–14, he returned to Brazil and conducted zoological research in central and north-eastern regions of the country, later being named director of zoology at the Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt am Main. From 1925 to 1933, he was a professor at the University of Cologne, where he was instrumental in the founding of its institute of zoology. In 1934 he returned to Brazil as director of the zoological institute at the University of São Paulo.
His primary areas of research involved the evolutionary development of flatworms, investigations of infusoria and the development of mammary organs in marsupials. His name is associated with Bachia bresslaui, sometimes referred to as "Bresslau's bachia", a species of Brazilian lizard described by Afrânio Pompílio Gastos do Amaral in 1935.

Selected works