Talk:Philip Hershkovitz

Question

I am expanding the article now using the biography in Hershkovitz's 1987 festschrift. I wonder whether we should include a bibliography and/or a list of taxa he named. Both would be fairly long. Ucucha 22:32, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

• Is there enough biographical information to make this a FA? If so (and I'd be certainly willing to help with a project like that) then yes. In that case the list size wouldn't overwhelm the article. Otherwise it's probably best to stick to the highlights, perhaps those specific articles/monographs/books that are mentioned in his various obituaries, and others that have been reviewed, or are highly cited. The 70 or so taxa he named could be easily fit into 2 columns without being unwieldy. Sasata (talk) 22:56, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

I think so, or at least for a GA. I have now got to 4812 b of prose on his life, and there is going to be more on his research interests. He has written about 164 papers, so the list would be rather long, but it would be doable. I'm not sure we could get a list of new taxa into two columns, as we would probably need a second column for current taxonomy—many of his species have been invalidated. Ucucha 22:59, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Maybe hold off on a complete listing of publications for now, some other opinions would be good on whether that's the way to go. I think the species list would be valuable. Let me know what I can do to help. Sasata (talk) 23:05, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Well, one question: Did he retire in 1971 (Patterson 1987) or 1974 (Fooden 1997b)? Ucucha 23:28, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Dunno ... can you access Coimbra-Filho, Adelmar F. (1997). "Philip Hershkovitz". Neotropical Primates 5: (2):34-36, or Langguth, Alfredo. (1997). [Philip Hershkovitz: the last to be familiar with the diversity of our mammals.] (Portuguese) Neotropical Primates 5(3):68-71? These might have corroborating answers. Sasata (talk) 23:36, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

They may be online, and otherwise I'll probably be able to get them. And another thing: we might want to write something on his theory of metachromism, which explains variation in fur coloration; see http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=metachromism for some pertinent papers. Ucucha 23:44, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

I just saved my expansion. I think we could add some more detail on his research, and we need refs for some of the species he described. I will continue to work on it tomorrow. It's long enough for DYK now; what of a hook? Perhaps something with affordable housing in Bogotá? ... that when Philip Hershkovitz was appointed a curator of mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in 1947, he almost immediately set off to work in the field in South America, declaring that the nearest affordable housing was in Bogotá, Colombia? Ucucha 01:06, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

The Neotropical Primates papers are here (5(2)) and here (5(3)). Both may be helpful in developing the article, but don't clarify the date of his retirement. Ucucha 01:11, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Excellent! I'll do what I can later tonight, and submit a hook, if you haven't done so already. Sasata (talk) 01:28, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Another idea might be to contact someone at the Field Museum of Natural History and see if they'd be interested in releasing some photos to help enhance this article. Sasata (talk) 01:30, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

I got it at T:TDYK#Philip Hershkovitz. Yes, that would be a good idea. I think we definitely have enough material for an FA, and an illustration would greatly improve it. Ucucha 01:52, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Notes

• Chicago Sun-Times obit (21 Feb 1997) says retirement was 1971 ("… but continued doing research and writing.")… but Patterson 1988 claims 1974 (although this is based on Patterson 1987)

Weird. Perhaps we should try to find issues of the FMNH Bulletin from 1971 or 1974 to see what they say?

• In addition to expanding metachromism, it appears it would be good to have a paragraph or two on his theories on the derivation of South American sigmodontine rodents (mentioned in Patterson 1988, p.28)

Yes, Patteron 1987 also mentions this.

• Images: any ideas (in addition to contacting the Field Museum)? Mammals described by him? Mammals named after him? The cover of one of his books?

All would be interesting, but I don't think those images would be free.

• From here: "His research in 1963 saved hundred of lives in the Amazon region of Bolivia by helping end an epidemic there of hemorrhagic fever carried by a species of field mice." Any more details on this we could include? Sasata (talk) 06:55, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

I think that has to do with Calomys. I'll see what I can find on it. Ucucha 12:11, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

• Issue of ASP Bulletin that announces that he is a Distinguished Primatologist
• Here is a obituary from the Chicago Tribune and here is a piece on (presumably) his fever research. I might be able to get access to the full text of those somewhere. A few other pieces in Google News Archive. Ucucha 13:47, 25 March 2010 (UTC)
• Entry in the Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Says 1971 for retirement.
• This could be incorporated (his contributions to a discussion on the definition of "Primates"). Ucucha 13:56, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

---> In 1974, at age 65, Hershkovitz obligatorially "retired," but, aside from economic concerns, there was no change in his daily constitution [His income, US$25K annually, was cut in half during a period of double-digit inflation; he was a widower with sons aged 15 and 16, who no longer were covered by health insurance, and whom he hoped would be able to afford college.] Hershkovitz' wife, Anne Marie, died in March, 1971, after a long bout with cancer. Up until 1970, she was his principal assistant, working at home, typing his hand-written manuscript with two carbon copies on an Olympia manual typewriter. Much of the original script of Living New World Monkeys, and all of his previous books and articles, were her typing. She also translated works for him German literature. She was born in 1920 in Marseilles, France, only child of a national railway employee father and high school teacher mother. She was studying English at the University of Paris in 1940 when the Nazis arrived. Apparently she was a refugee -- the story of the period 1940-1945 is probably forever lost. However, in 1945, she had apparently returned to Paris, where she continued her studies, and was employed by the office of Charles DeGaulle, preparing for him translations of articles from English language press. Hershkovitz was by then stationed in Paris, an NCO for OSS, working out of one of the occupied Rothchild's mansions. In his free time, he studied collections at the Paris museum, where he met curator Paul Rode. Hershkovitz indicated a desire to learn better French. Rode arranged for him to meet Anne Marie, apparently an associate (student? colleague?) of Mrs. Rode. The meeting took place at the Trocadero Metro near the Eiffel Tower, he waiting at street level, she ascending the stairs. Hershkovitz' only two co-authored publications were with Paul Rode, the second, Hershkovitz and Rode, a retractions of the first, Rode and Hershkovitz. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.22.178.11 (talk) 00:04, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

---> Hershkovitz’ 1909 birth certificate gives his birth name in longhand as “Israel F. Hercovitz,” revealing a Jewish identity that he purposely obliterated coincidentally with the development of his scientific career. But it also implicates a heritage of Jewish values and philosophy that probably influenced Hershkovitz’ professional development and principles. The “f” in Hershkovitz’ birth name represented the cyrillic phi, the first letter of Philip in Russian. I cannot explain the eventual transformation of the “c” to “shk” in the subsequent spelling of Hershkovitz. The cyrillic “c” is pronounced “s,” whereas the English alphabet pronounces it “s” or “k.” Hershkovitz” and its many variants are common surnames among eastern European and present day Israeli Jews. The many spelling and phonetic variants reflect both diverse languages and regions of origin (Russia, Poland, etc.) and diverse transcriptions into the English alphabet. The record lists the birthplace of Hershkovitz’ mother as Russia and his father as Romania. Late in life, Hershkovitz reported that his mother was from Odessa and fleed from there during the late 19th century antisemitic pograms (race riots). He reported that his father was from Moldavia (Moldova), whose territory was then divided between Russia and Romania. Many Jews from this region settled in industrial Pittsburgh in the late 19th century. The baby boom spawned by these and other immigrants made Pittsburgh America’s eighth largest city in the early 20th century and a cultural and intellectual capital. Hershkovitz credited his professional and personal development to the arts, schools, museums, and libraries endowed by philanthropists such as Carnegie and Mellon. Hershkovitz’ father’s occupation was listed as “merchant.” He reported that his father died when he was 9 years old (c. 1918), leaving him with his mother and three sisters. He reported that his mother traded in real estate and lost considerable wealth following the 1929 economic collapse. Still, she apparently was able to retain a large masonry home in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. This was Hershkovitz’ final residence in Pittsburgh. Hershkovitz’ early passports and his military records give his name as “Philip I[srael]. Hershkovitz”. The middle initial/name are absent in all postwar (WW2) documents. His Jewish heritage was thus concealed from all but those familiar with eastern European Jewish surnames. Remarkably, he even concealed this ancestry from his children, who knew that their mother was French (and Roman Catholic), but could not answer the frequent inquiries as to the nationality of their surname. Hershkovitz’ children did not know of, or even suspect, their Jewish ancestry until 1974. Hershkovitz’ youngest son had been subjected to innuendos by his high school physical education teacher, and he asked his father for an explanation. The elder Hershkovitz did not deny nor confirm his son’s suspicion and thereafter made at best scant and tangential references to his Jewish heritage. Hershkovitz’ daughter, 28 in 1974 and married into a devoutly Roman Catholic family, doubted her younger brother’s discovery, not openly accepting her Jewish heritage until the final years of her life. Only a few weeks before his death in 1997 did Hershkovitz advise his youngest son that they were Levites. Still, so conditioned, Hershkovitz’ youngest son, now 53, guards his ethnicity from acquaintances, professing ignorance or, at best, that his name is Jewish, but that he is not. Why Philip -- “Israel Philip” -- Hershkovitz kept his Jewish identity from society and even from his own children will never be known. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.22.221.53 (talk) 16:34, 27 June 2011 (UTC)