Herbert Girton Deignan, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Herbert Girton Deignan

ornithologist

Date of Birth: 05-Dec-1906

Place of Birth: East Orange, New Jersey, United States

Date of Death: 15-Mar-1968

Profession: zoologist, ornithologist

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius


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About Herbert Girton Deignan

  • Herbert Girton Deignan (December 5, 1906 – March 15, 1968) was an American ornithologist who worked extensively on the birds of Thailand. Deignan was born in New Jersey, the son of Harry Francis and Anna Galena.
  • He grew up in Pennsylvania and schooled in Mercersburg Academy before going to Princeton where he graduated with an Arts Baccalaureate in 1928.
  • He became interested in birds early on and got in contact with Charles H Rogers, curator of the Princeton collections.
  • He became interested in Thailand (Siam) and after graduating he took up a position in the Chiangmai college in northern Siam as a teacher of English.
  • He stayed there from 1928 to 1932, collecting birds in the region that he sent back to Charles Rogers at Princeton. Deignan returned to the United States in 1932.
  • He held a temporary assignment at the US National Museum thanks to Alexander Wetmore.
  • He then took a position at the Library of Congress from 1934 to 1935, and his familiarity with Asian languages helped index the catalogues of the library holdings in Sanskrit and Siamese.
  • He returned to Chiangmai to take back his position and stayed from 1935 to 1937 during which time he amassed a large collection of birds for the United States National Museum (USNM).
  • In 1938, he was appointed Scientific Aid in the Division of Birds at the USNM.
  • He was promoted to Assistant Curator in 1940, Associate Curator in 1942, and Curator in 1959.
  • Deignan retired in 1962.Deignan married Stella Leche, a physical anthropologist. Deignan became a member of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1923 and became a Life fellow in 1946 going on to serve as Secretary from 1959 to 1961.
  • He published taxonomic revisions, collection catalogues and descriptions of birds from various parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia.Deignan is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Sri Lankan lizard, Lankascincus deignani.

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