Szabadfalvi József: Írások Herman Ottóról és a Herman Ottó Múzeumról (Borsodi Kismonográfiák 25. Miskolc, 1987)

PAPERS ABOUT OTTÓ HERMAN AND HERMAN OTTÓ MUSEUM Ottó Herman whom the museum takes its name from was born on 28 June, 1835, in Breznobánya, Upper Northern Hungary. His father a court surgeon was transferred to Diósgyőr in 1847 and the young Ottó Herman commuted to Miskolc to study. When the Civil Revolution broke out in 1848 he tried to join the army but being a 13 year old young boy he was sent home. Later on he became an engine fitter apprentice in Miskolc, then in Korpona and in Vienna from May 1854 to late 1856. He spent all his spare time in the Museum of Sciences where he got familiar with the world of minerals, plants and animals. He also made a good use of his excellent sense of drawing, as he made illustrations to scientific works. In 1857 he was called up for military service and as the army surgeon regarded his early hardness of hearing as pretence, so he had to serve as a soldier in Zólyom. His regiment was commanded to go in the Austro-Italian War where he was finally discharged at the age of 26. During the following years he turned up in the battle fields of the Italian and Polish revolutions. In 1863 he opened a photographer's shop with two of his fellows. Here he learned how to mount birds from Kálmán Chernél. Taking Chernel's advice he applied for the conservator's post invited by the Transylvanian Museum in Transylvania that he finally got in 1864. He became Samuel Brassai's assistant and co-worker and worked in Kolozsvár upto 1871. He began his scientific activity at the age of 30; his first study on falcon appeared in 1864. He studied much and worked even more. He did collecting work for years in Mezőség region, Transylvania. He studied mainly ornithology i.e. the life of birds but already then his attention was attracted by his other main subject, i.e. fishes and fishing. He also collected minerals and rocks for the museum. His career as a newspaper man and his political activity started in Kolozsvár at the local papers "Ellenzék" and "Magyar Polgár". In 1873 he settled down in Budapest. On commission of the Scientific Society he compiled and published "Spider 207