Person PX4429 Scharff; Robert Francis (1858 - 1934); Naturalist Scharff Robert Francis 1858 - 1934 Naturalist Male Born 1858, Leeds. Died 13 September 1934, Worthing, Sussex

Despite his being one of the more prominent figures in zoogeography around the beginning of the twentieth century, Scharff largely has been forgotten (note the dearth of information below--I've not pulled out all the stops, but none of the usual sources, at least, have been able to provide any leads). It is known, however, that Scharff was quite active in both the Irish and international natural history scenes, regularly involving himself in meetings and other professional activities: a Times obituary from 19 September 1934, for example, lists him as a past secretary of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, and a three-term vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy. His interests seem to have been broadly zoological, with an emphasis on birds and mammals (both of Ireland, and elsewhere). He is most remembered these days as an aggressive advocate of land bridge-based explanations for large-scale distribution patterns, but it is also interesting to note that he was a progressive to the extent that he felt that zoogeographical regions were poor bases upon which to build scientific understandings of geographical distribution. 1890 appointed keeper of the Natural History Museum, Dublin. 1895 awarded the International Congress of Zoology's Emperor Nicholas II prize. 1906 obtains the British Museum's Swiney lectureship in geology. Retired 1921 Tring correspondent The History of the European Fauna (1899) European Animals: Their Geological History and Geographical Distribution (1907) Distribution and Origin of Life in America (1911) Yes Idealist Import 4namepers.txt 28/02/2004 NHM\laurb5 04/04/2019 82492e8a-4a28-4f9d-96b7-d29bf540401a