Alexander von Homeyer

Who was Alexander von Homeyer?

Alexander von Homeyer was a German soldier and ornithologist. He was a nephew of Eugen Ferdinand von Homeyer, also an ornithologist.

Homeyer joined the Prussian army in 1852, and as an ensign served with the Silesian Füsilier-Regiment. In 1878 he retired from the military with the rank of major. He took part in the second expedition of the German African society in 1874, in which he was accompanied by the explorer Paul Pogge. His other travels, during which he collected natural history specimens, included expeditions to the Mediterranean, Denmark, Hungary and the Balkans. From the years 1875 to 1884, he was for the most part, engaged in systematic studies.

Homeyer published over 150 articles on ornithology, and was the first to describe the Cyprus Wheatear and the Semi-collared Flycatcher. As a lepidopterist, he amassed a collection of around 50,000 butterflies. At his death, he left a collection of bird eggs that was one of the largest private collections known to exist — in 1906 becoming part of the Senckenberg Nature Research Society.

He died at Greifswald.