Lothar Becker: a German naturalist in Victoria, 1849–52, 1855–65

Abstract

Warning Readers of this article are warned that it may contain terms, descriptions and opinions that are culturally sensitive and/or offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Lothar Becker (1825–1901?), an unpretentious Silesian naturalist, twice visited the colony of Victoria and published rich and original observations on its natural history and Indigenous people on his return to Germany. On his first visit, 1849 to 1852, Becker recorded his encounter with Black Thursday, a devastating bushfire, its aftermath, and the, by then, still relatively uncleared landscape. He also related his experiences living for a time with an Indigenous family in the Omeo district. After adding to his store of natural history observations on a second visit, 1855 to 1865, Becker tried to make money from writing articles on diverse Australian topics such as ant nests, the sequence and timing of flowering, the distribution of weeds, the natural history of fungi and the world history of tobacco, in all but the latter characterised by a remarkable proto-ecological approach. Becker’s publications have been overlooked by subsequent scientific researchers, in part because he wrote for the popular press, and because his language was German. The life and work of Lothar Becker is introduced here for the first time, and translations provided of six of his articles on Victorian natural history, botany, mycology, horticulture, and anthropology. Reflections on Becker’s contribution to anthropology and to mycology are published in two associated articles by Howes, and May and Darragh.