Name William Blandowski | ||
 | ||
Died December 18, 1878, Boleslawiec, Poland Books Australia: William Blandowski's Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia | ||
Johann Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski, known in English as William Blandowski (21 January 1822 – 18 December 1878), was a German zoologist and mining engineer of Polish roots. He is known for his work in Australia from 1849 and 1859.
Life
Blandowski was born in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia (now Gliwice, Poland). His father, Felix von Blandowski, was hailing from Germanised Polish family. In 1849 he moved to Australia where he made a small fortune in the goldfields near Castlemaine, Victoria. He was a founder of the Geological Society of Victoria in 1852. He was the first scientist appointed to the new Victorian Museum on 1 April 1854. He later became a member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, a forerunner of the Royal Society of Victoria. In 1856–1857 he led a scientific collecting expedition (the Blandowski Expedition) to the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers, which procured a large number of biological specimens for the museum, especially new fish species.
Blandowski decided to name some fish species documented on this expedition after members of the Philosophical Institute's council. However, a controversy ensued when two prominent council members felt insulted by his descriptions of the fish named for them:
It is not known if Blandowski's insult was intentional, but it certainly led to substantial acrimony in the council. Blandowski refused to withdraw the descriptions or the paper in which they appeared, and was quickly censured by the council. The insulted parties attempted to have him expelled from the Institute, but eventually withdrew themselves when they could not obtain the required two-thirds majority of votes.
Blandowski remained active in the Philosophical Institute for the next three years, participating in the Exploration Committee that organised the Burke and Wills expedition. He felt strongly that Victorians should be actively involved in exploring Australia. Blandowski returned to Europe in 1859 and complained of his treatment in Australia. He died in Bunzlau (now Bolesławiec) in 1878. He is commemorated in a genus of marine fish (Blandowskius), and of the Murray River perches (Blandowskiella).