09.03.2013 Views

3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Expeditions to <strong>New</strong> Guinea and the Solomon Islands 49<br />

Fig.2.3. Ernst Mayr, 1927, a few months before leaving Germany for <strong>New</strong> Guinea (Archive,<br />

Museum of Natural History Berlin, Orn. 103, 1)<br />

on an expedition. Plans of travels to Cameroon (with the ethnographer Günther<br />

Tessmann) or toPeru (with thegeologist Harvey Bassler) failed. At theInternational<br />

Zoological Congress in Budapest (October 1927), Stresemann introduced Ernst<br />

Mayr to Lord Walter Rothschild and Ernst Hartert and convinced them that he<br />

would be the best man to continue A. F. Eichhorn’s work in <strong>New</strong> Guinea (this<br />

collector for Lord Rothschild had retired owing to illness).<br />

This was going to be Mayr’s great chance. He was 23 years old now (Fig. 2.3).<br />

Back to Berlin he wrote to E. Hartert on 22 October 1927 (transl.):<br />

Dear Dr. Hartert!<br />

You can hardly imagine how overjoyed I was by your and Lord Rothschild’s<br />

assent. For years it has been my loftiest goal some time to be able to conduct<br />

a scientific expedition and to become acquainted with those birds in life whose

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!