William Alexander Forbes
Deceased Person
1855 – 1883
Who was William Alexander Forbes?
William Alexander Forbes was an English zoologist. He was the son of James Staats Forbes.
Forbes studied natural sciences at St John's College, Cambridge. In 1879 he was appointed prosector to the Zoological Society of London on the death of the previous incumbent, Alfred Henry Garrod, who was Forbes's friend and whose literary executor Forbes became. Forbes lectured on comparative anatomy at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School. As an anatomist, he wrote valuable papers on the muscular structure and voice organs of birds.
In 1880 Forbes visited the forests of Pernambuco, Brazil, and published an account of his trip in The Ibis in 1881. In 1882 he travelled to west Africa to study the native fauna, starting from the mouth of the Niger delta. He was taken ill shortly after Christmas and died in Shonga.
In 8 February 1878, Forbes was elected Secretary of the Cambridge Natural History Society. He also edited the book compiling the late Alfred Henry Garrod's scientific papers; the book was published in 1881 along with a memoir of Garrod written by Forbes.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Jun 25, 1855
- Also known as
- Форбес, Вильям Александр
- Education
- St John's College, Cambridge
- Died
- Jan 14, 1883
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"William Alexander Forbes." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/william_alexander_forbes>.
Discuss this William Alexander Forbes biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In