Curt Kosswig

Curt Kosswig (sometimes spelled "Koßwig") (30 October 1903, Berlin – 29 March 1982, Hamburg) was a German zoologist and geneticist, who spent most of his career at the University of Istanbul (1937–1955) and Hamburg University (1955–1969). Curt Kosswig is known as the Father of Turkish Zoology. Curt Kosswig was born in Berlin, German Empire. He attended Berlin's Schöneberg Hohenzollern School (Hohenzollernschule), graduating in 1922. Afterwards, he studied Zoology, and Genetics in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he completed his PhD in 1927. In 1930, he married Leonore (1904–1973), who was also a biologist. They would become acclaimed as a husband and wife research team in Turkey. They had two sons, the older of whom is named Kurt Kosswig (Kurt with a 'K' rather than his father's 'C') who became a chemist. As a scholar, Kosswig published a wide range of subject matter, especially zoology. Among his publications were sex-determination systems, carcinogenesis, constructive and regressive evolution, genetics of house pets, zoological geography, and species classification.