Eberhard Stechow

21 March 1883 Berlin - 11 August 1959 Munich

Excerpts of the obituary published by Engelhardt (1960). 

Professor Dr EBERHARD STECHOW is known to the scientific audience as the most prominent hydrozoan specialist of our time. Under the supervision of RICHARD HERTWIG (Munich) he earned his doctoral degree through his dissertation titled "Beiträge zur Kenntnis von Branchiocerianthus imperator Alm". This study marked the begin of a lifelong devotion to hydroids. With more than forty  publications - some of them quite voluminous - he contributed considerably to our understanding of this rather neglected group. Of particular importance are the studies "Hydroidpolypen der japanischen Ostküste I & II" (1909-1913), "Hydroiden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition (Valdivia" (1911, 1923), "Zur Kenntnis der Hydroidenfauna des Mittlemeeres, Amerikas und anderer Gebiete I & II" (1919, 1923). STECHOW described many new genera and species of hydrozoans. He also created the first comprehensive key for this taxon and he much emphasized the need to reveal the relationships based on common descent.
STECHOW worked for 43 years at the "Zoologische Sammlung des Bayerischen Staates": 1905-1923 as voluntary scientific collaborator, until 1927 as assistant, from then on as curator, and finally after 1937 as head of the department. Through his own collecting expeditions to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and California as well as through trading with other collectors STECHOW built up an impressive hydroid collection. The significance of the collection is extraordinary through its number of specimens - comprising several thousand micro slide preparations and over thousand specimens in alcohol - as well as the number of types and paratypes.

STECHOW was a particularly productive and meticulous worker. He was a very loveable, sensible man, whose interests beside his scientific work were  directed fully towards his family. Therefore, it must have been extremely traumatizing for him to see the early death of his partner, the horrible death of his daughter, son-in-law, and grand child during the war, and finally the death of his youngest son caused by war related circumstances. By devoting himself completely to his scientific work, he was perhaps able to overcome his grieve. 

Reference:

Engelhardt W. (1960) Eberhard Stechow.  Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft 24 Suppl: 532-533.

some selected works of STECHOW:

Stechow E. (1919b) Zur Kenntis der Hydroidenfauna des Mittelmeeres, Amerikas und anderer Gebiete, nebst  Angaben über einige Kirchenpauer'sche Typen von Plumulariden. Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abteilung  Systematik. 42  (1): 1-172.

Stechow E. (1921f) Ueber Hydroiden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition, nebst Bemerkungen       über einige andre Formen. Zool. Anz. 53  (9-10): 223-236.

Stechow E. (1923a) Die Hydroidenfauna der japanischen Region. J. Coll. Sci. Imperial Univ. Tokyo 44  (8): 1-23.

Stechow E. (1923b) Ueber Hydroiden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition, nebst Bemerkungen über einige andre Formen. Zool. Anz. 56  (5-6): 97-119.

Stechow E. (1923c) Zur Kenntnis der Hydroidenfauna des Mittelmeeres, Amerikas und anderer   Gebiete. II. Teil. Zool. Jb., Syst. 47  (1): 29-270.

Stechow E., Müller H.C. (1923) Hydroiden von den Aru-Inseln. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges. 35  (4): 459-478.

Stechow E. (1924) Ueber die Einfluss der Temperatur auf die Erzeugung von freien Medusen, bzw. von Sporosacs bei den Hydrozoen. Verh. dt. zool. Ges. 29 : 81-83.

Stechow E. (1925a) Hydroiden von West- und Südwestaustralien nach den Sammlungen von Prof. Dr. Michaelsen und Prof. Dr. Hartmeyer. Zool. Jb., Syst. 50  (2): 191-270. 

Stechow E. (1925b) Hydroiden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition.  Wiss. Ergebn. dt. Tiefsee Exped. 'Valdivia' 27 : 383-546.

Stechow E. (1926) Einige neue Hydroiden aus verschiedenen Meeresgebieten.  Zool. Anz. 68  (3-4): 96-108.

Stechow E. and Uchida T. (1931) Report of the biological Survey of Mutsu Bay. 21. Hydroiden von Mutsu-Bai, Nord-Japan.Sci. Rep. Tohoku Imp. Univ., Biol 6  (3): 545-571, pl. 15.

Stechow E. (1932) Neue Hydroiden aus dem Mittelmeer und dem Pazifischen Ozean, nebst Bemerkungen  über einige wenig bekannte Formen. Zool. Anz. 100  (3-4): 81-92.

Stechow E. (1962) Ueber skelettbildende Hydrozoen. Zool. Anz. 169  (9-10): 416-428