SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Karl von Frisch

1886-11-20 – 1982-06-12

Der Zoologe und Verhaltensforscher Karl von Frisch, Silbergelatineabzug.Credit: Stefanie Ludwig

Life & Legacy

Karl Ritter von Frisch (20 November 1886 – 12 June 1982) was a German-Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz.
His work centered on investigations of the sensory perceptions of the honey bee and he was one of the first to translate the meaning of the waggle dance. His theory, described in his 1927 book Aus dem Leben der Bienen/ (English: "From the Life of Bees", published in the UK and United States as The Dancing Bees), was disputed by other scientists and met with widespread skepticism at the time, only decades later being appreciated as both zoologically accurate and an important step in development of animal behavioral study, and the wider history of biology.

Occupation & Career

beekeeper, ethologist, university teacher, entomologist, zoologist, biologist, scientist

Education

University of Vienna; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Bavarian Order of Merit; Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna; Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; Kalinga Prize; Balzan Prize; Lieben Prize; Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art; Magellanic Premium; honorary doctorate of the University of Graz; honorary doctor of Harvard University; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Foreign Member of the Royal Society; Austrian Decoration for Science and Art; Erzherzog Rainer-Medaille

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art · Balzan Prize · Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art · Bavarian Order of Merit · Erzherzog Rainer-Medaille · Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences · Foreign Member of the Royal Society · Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany · honorary doctor of Harvard University · honorary doctorate of the University of Graz · Kalinga Prize · Lieben Prize · Magellanic Premium · Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine · Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order · Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna

Employer

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München · University of Graz · University of Rostock · University of Wrocław

Organizations & Memberships

American Academy of Arts and Sciences · Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities · German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina · Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony · National Academy of Sciences · Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences · Royal Society of London · Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences · Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft