Leopold Heinrich Fischer

Leopold Heinrich Fischer (1817 to 1886) was a German zoologist and mineralogist, born and died in Freiburg im Breisgau, the son of Aloys Fischer. He studied medicine at Freiburg and Vienna and then worked as a general practitioner in Freiburg. From 1845 he taught classes in zoology and mineralogy, in 1854 he was named associate professor of mineralogy and geology at the University of Freiburg, where in 1859 he attained a full professorship, and from 1855 he directed the mineralogical-geognostic collection. He was one of the top specialists in the classification of insects of his time. After much research in geology he devoted himself to the study of prehistoric people, studying stone tools from an evolutionary point of view and their geographical distribution. His collections are in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, and with Alexander Ecker he was co-director of the Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography at Freiburg.