Max Liebke Explained

Max Liebke
Birth Date:12 February 1892
Birth Place:Hamburg, Germany[1]
Nationality:German
Fields:Entomology

Max Liebke (12 February 1892 – 1945)[2] was a German entomologist, who researched ground beetles. He wrote in a journal called Entomologischer Anzeiger, describing beetles that he discovered.

Liebke was born Max Heinrich Wilhelm Liebke in Hamburg on 12 February 1892.[3] His parents were Ernst August Julius Liebke and Anna Margaretha Dorothea Liebke (nee Wenk).

On 21 February 1914 in Hamburg, 22 year old Liebke married 21 year old Minna Caroline Marie Antonie Elisabeth Amthor.[4] Both are described as Lutherans on their marriage record.

Between 1927 and 1940, Liebke authored at least 33 scientific papers, mainly about Carabidae.[5]

Liebke was listed as missing at Posen [<nowiki/>[[Poznań|Poznań, Poland]]] in 1944.[6] Liebke's birth registration document bears an official stamp noting that he was formally declared dead on 11 October 1951, but is considered to have been dead by the end of 1945.

In 1932 Liebke gifted 5,344 beetle specimens to the Zoological Museum in Hamburg. Liebke's carabidae collection was partially destroyed during World War II, but some specimens survived and were moved to the collections of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.[7] Liebke also described species from material loaned to him by other scientists, including beetles later returned to Ferdinand Nevermann (1881-1938) whose collection is now at the Smithsonian Museum.

Notes and References

  1. Liebke. Max. 1928. Ground Beetle Studies 5 – Entomological Gazette. Laufkäfer-Studien V. – Entomologischer Anzeiger. German. 8. 215–218.
  2. Web site: Biographies of the Entomologists of the World. senckenberg.de. 12 April 2021. German.
  3. Web site: Hamburg, Germany, Births, 1874-1901 for Max Heinrich Wilhelm Liebke . 1 April 2023 . ancestry.co.uk.
  4. Web site: Hamburg, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920 for Max Heinrich Wilhelm Liebke . 1 April 2023 . ancestry.co.uk.
  5. Blackwelder . Richard E . 1957 . Bibliography: Liebke, Max (1892-) . United States National Museum Bulletin: Checklist of the Coleopterous Insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America . 185 . 6 . 1180–1181 . Google Books.
  6. Book: Weidner, Herbert . Geschichte der Entomologie in Hamburg . Kommissionsverlag Cram, De Gruyter . 1967 . 264 . de.
  7. Erwin . Terry L . 1975 . The Ground Beetle Types of Max Liebke in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. (Coleoptera: Carabidae) . The Coleopterists Bulletin . 29 . 4 . 267–268 . 3999667 . JSTOR.