Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910

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Alexander Agassiz(1835-1910), marine biologist, oceanographer, and industrial entrepreneur, was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, the son of Louis Agassiz. In 1860 Agassiz began a lifetime occupation of administering the business affairs of the Harvard museum, a task made difficult by his father's penchant for excessive collecting and expenditures. After Louis's death in 1873, Agassiz succeeded to the directorship of the Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology and completed the physical plan of the building. While a museum administrator, Agassiz was able to do significant research and publications in marine biology, especially in the study of Echinoderms (starfish, sand dollars, sea urchins, sea lilies, and related forms). The great energy Agassiz brought to all his endeavors was most evident in his oceanographic work. He pioneered in the 1870s and 1880s several highly useful technological improvements for dredging marine specimens. Sir John Murray, scientific director of the world-renowned British expedition of HMS Challenger, and a scientific confidant and biographer of Agassiz, affirmed in 1911 that all contemporary knowledge of "the great ocean basins and their general outlines" was due to Agassiz's work and his inspiration to others. In ships of the U.S. Coast Survey, and in private vessels he rented or bought, Agassiz traveled hundreds of thousands of miles over the oceans of the world in the period from the mid-1870s through the early 1900s, each trip planned with meticulous care. Agassiz corresponded extensively with colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_219_pid_EACP216

Alexander Agassiz was an American morphologist, geologist, zoologist, oceanographer, museum director, and mining engineer. He was the son of Louis Agassiz.

From the guide to the Alexander Agassiz letters, 1906, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Agassiz graduated from Harvard in 1855, served as Overseer and Fellow of Harvard, and was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

From the description of Papers of Alexander Agassiz, 1880-ca. 1887 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76972756

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referencedIn	Adee, Alvey A. (Alvey Augustus), 1842-1924. Six letters to Alexander Agassiz : writing for U.S. Dept. of State, concerning Albatross Expedition, 1904.	Harvard University, Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
referencedIn	Adelaide Davis Album of Remembrance 1859-1864 1859-1861 Davis, Adelaide Album of Remembrance	William L. Clements Library
referencedIn	Administrative correspondence of the Gray Herbarium and Harvard University Herbaria, 1890-2019, bulk 1890-1955	Harvard University, Gray Herbarium
referencedIn	Agassiz family. Papers of the Agassiz family, 1817-1910 (inclusive), 1847-1910 (bulk) [microform].	Harvard University, Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910,. American and English literary and historical papers collected by Atcheson L. Hench [manuscript] 1300-1926.	University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. [Letter to Professor A. Ramsay]	University of Kansas Archives / MSS / Rare Books, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. [Typescript of annotations by Alexander Agassiz and Elizabeth Agassiz in the MCZ Library Special Collections copy of Jules Marcou's "Life, letters, and works of Louis Agassiz," 2 v. (1896)], ca. 1935?	Harvard University, Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. Agassiz letter books, 1859-1910.	Harvard University, Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. Alexander Agassiz papers, 1848-1910.	Harvard University, Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
creatorOf	Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. An expedition to the Maldives. (Extract from a letter to Professor E.S. Dana, dated Colombo, January 29, 1902)	Smithsonian Institution. Libraries

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correspondedWith	Adee, Alvey A. (Alvey Augustus), 1842-1924.
associatedWith	Agassiz family.
associatedWith	Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot Cary, 1822-1907.
associatedWith	Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
associatedWith	Agassiz- Albatross Expedition to the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1904-1905)
associatedWith	Albatross (Steamer)
associatedWith	Albatross Expedition (1904-1905)
associatedWith	Albatross Expedition (1904-1905)
associatedWith	Albatross Expedition (1904-1905)
associatedWith	Albatross Expedition.