Hermann Schlegel

Born in the German city of Altenburg, Schlegel’s love of natural history began at an early age. 

His father, a brassfounder, was a keen collector of butterflies which first gave the young Schlegel an introduction to the natural world. But it was the unexpected discovery of a buzzard’s nest which set Schlegel on his path to studying birds. 

Two of Hermann Schlegel’s best-loved publications are his work on falconry: ‘Traité de Fauconnerie’ and ‘De Toerako’s’, his study of the turaco, a colorful bird from sub-Saharan Africa.