Hans Hermann Behr

Hans Hermann Behr (August 18, 1818, Köthen – March 6, 1904, San Francisco) was a German-American doctor, entomologist and botanist. At the time of his death, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he was "reckoned among mental giants" and that he was "an authority of world-wide prominence" in many branches of science. He attended schools in Köthen and Zerbst where he studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew and mathematics. As a boy he developed an interest in natural history, including collecting birds' eggs. In 1837 he began his study of medicine, first at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and later at the Humboldt University of Berlin where he graduated in 1843 as Doctor of Medicine. (In 1898, on his eightieth birthday, he was given the unusual honour of having his degree renewed by the University of Berlin at the recommendation of Rudolf Virchow.) Whilst at Wittenberg he had developed an interest in botany and a passing interest in the sport of duelling which left him with scars on his face. and on Australian flora in Linnaea: Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange. The next 115 pages of the latter journal are devoted to descriptions of 200 plants by Dietrich von Schlechtendal, collected by Behr. Behr was the first person to systematically study the flora of many parts of South Australia. Many of his collections were named and described by other botanists, including 62 new species by Schlechtendal and others by Meisner, Sonder and Miquel. Many species were named after Behr including Aristida behriana, Baeckea behrii, Caladenia behrii, Diuris behrii, Eremophila behriana, Eriochlamys behrii, Eucalyptus behriana, Lasiopetalum behrii, Loudonia behrii, Prostanthera behriana, Senecio behrianus and Swainsona behriana. The genus Behria Greene is also named after him. and Transactions of the American Entomological Society.

In 1872, the California Pharmaceutical Society was formed and in the same year, the Society appointed Behr professor of botany and he was required to organise excursions "into the country on alternate weeks for the purpose of collecting and studying indigenous plants." Also formed in the same year was the Bohemian Club and in its second year, Behr became a member.

In 1891 and 1896, Behr published two essays entitled Botanical Reminiscences in which he describes the changes in the vegetation of San Francisco from 1850. The California Academy of Sciences elected Behr to the position of vice-president in 1895 and three years later he was made curator of entomology. He later donated his large collection of Lepidoptera to the Academy but it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906. He authored a number of books including The Plants of the Vicinity of San Francisco and a book of verse, The Hoot of the Owl. Behr Avenue in San Francisco is named after him.

On 6 March 1904 Behr died at his home at 1215 Bush Street, at the age of 85 years and 6 months.