Re: Gerhard Heilmann

["Ilja Nieuwland" <I.J.J.Nieuwland@let.rug.nl>]

Chris Nedin wrote: 
> Dan Varner wrote:
> 
> >     Can anyone, probably on the opposite side of the Atlantic from here in
> >New Jersey (Darren?), provide biographical information about Gerhard 
> >Heilmann,

> Here is some info I have from various sources.
> 
> "He was born 25.6 1859 in Skelskoer, and died 26.3 1946.
> He was working as artist, draughtsman and writer,
> studied medicine and other subjects in Roskilde 1877-1883.
> After that he mainly studied arts under among others the

[snipped]
> 
> Chris

This deserves a little addendum, I think. First of all, a more recent 
bit of information on Heilmann is given by Svend Palm, "Gerhard 
Heilmann og teorierne om fuglenes oprindelse [Gerhard Heilmann and 
theories on the origin of birds]", _Dansk Ornithologisk Forenings 
Tidsskrift_, Vol. 83 Issue 1-2 (1986), pp. 6-10. As the title 
indicates, this article is more concerned with Heilmann's theories 
than with his personality, but it also contains a fair bit of 
biographical info. Also see _The origin of flapping flight in birds_ 
by the same author. Palm emphasises that Heilmann's first article of 
1912 preceded Broom in arriving at the 'pseudosuchian' hypothesis (p. 
7). It further turns out that Heilmann was an artist of considerable 
reputation, who was responsible for the design of Danish bank notes 
until his death in 1946. Next to his artistic work and his ideas on 
bird evolution, he was a social critic; his books _Universet og 
Traditionen_ and _Kirken og Videnskaben_  turn against the doctrine 
of creation and the church in general, respectively. 

Hope this helps,

Ilja Nieuwland
Groningen, NL