Martin Jacoby
Martin Jacoby (12 April 1842, Altona, Duchy of Holstein – 24 December 1907, London) was a German entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera, especially Chrysomelidae (formerly known as Phytophaga). He was also a musician who played in the orchestra of the Royal Italian Opera in London, and later became a violin tutor.
Jacoby was born in Altona near Hamburg and grew up near the port. He later became a leather merchant but his interest was in music and natural history. He studied violin and at the age of twenty he gave up his leather business and moved to England to join Sir Charles Hallé's orchestra in Manchester. He also began to collect insects and birds even before leaving Germany. He was in touch with many German entomological collectors like Thörey, Koltze, and Gräser. He sold off his first large entomological collection to Van der Poll of Holland in 1880. The ornithologist Edward Hargitt advised him to concentrate on a particular group of insects. He chose to study the phytophagous beetles. He moved later to play violin at the Royal Italian Opera in London. He examined the Chrysomelidae from South America and India and contributed to the volumes of the Fauna of British India and the Biologia Centrali Americana. He was elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of London in 1886 and was a regular at meetings and outdoor events. He served as a specialist referee for the magazine The Entomologist when it was taken over by the editor John Henry Leech in 1889. He played violin at the Entomological Club supper thrown each year by George Henry Verrall. He had two daughters and a son.
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