Franz Steindachner
Franz Steindachner (
November 11,
1834 -
December 10,
1919) was an
Austrian
zoologist.
Steindachner was interested in
natural history, and took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend
Eduard Suess. In 1860 he was appointed to the position of director of the Fish Collection at the
Naturhistorisches Museum, a position which had remained vacant since the death of
Johann Jakob Heckel.
Steindachner's reputation as a
ichthyologist grew, and in 1868 he was invited by
Louis Agassiz accept a post at Cambridge University in
Boston. Steindachner took part in the Hassler expedition of 1871/2. In 1874 he returned to
Vienna, and in 1887 was appointed director of the Zoological Department of the Naturhistorisches Museum. In 1898 he was promoted to director of the museum.
