Page 22 - Наукові записки Державного природознавчого музею, 2024 Вип. 40

Наукові записки Державного природознавчого музею. Випуск 40 (Львів, 2024)
Proceedings of the State Natural History Museum. Issue 40 (Lviv, 2024)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36885/nzdpm.2024.40.21-32

UDC 55+56:591/57.06

1, 2
Sofia Bakayeva and Andrzej Kaim 2

WILHELM FRIEDBERG AND HIS SCIENTIFIC LEGACY AT THE NATURAL
HISTORY MUSEUM IN LVIV

Wilhelm Friedberg was an eminent naturalist whose scientific interests scoped on Miocene geology
and palaeontology of Poland and Western Ukraine. He left behind a significant scientific legacy:
several scientific publications and a wealth of collections. The most outstanding work of W. Friedberg
was a large two-volume monograph, the first part of which was devoted to Miocene gastropods and the
second – to bivalves. In this comprehensive work, he described more than 700 taxa of molluscs, from
which 85 are new. In a result of a study on Cretaceous foraminifera, W. Friedberg described 194 taxa,
from which 8 were new to science. Furthermore, the work on foraminifers has been translated into
English to provide broader accessibility and disseminate his research to the wider international
scientific community. In addition to paleontological contributions, W. Friedberg authored geological
articles, a textbook on geology, as well as a number of popular scientific publications.
Wilhelm Friedberg’s scientific endeavours were intricately linked to the Dzieduszycki Family
Natural History Museum in Lviv (now the State Museum of Natural History of National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine). This collaboration is substantiated by numerous entries in the museum’s records
and letters stored in the library archive. These documents reveal that the scientist delved in the
literature from the museum’s extensive library, which, during that era, ranked as one of the largest
natural literature collections in Europe, and regularly contributed copies of his articles to it.
W. Friedberg extensively studied the museum’s collections and also enriched them with specimens from
his own materials what is documented both in the museum’s chronicle and in the inscriptions on the
specimens’ labels.
Today, the State Museum of Natural History in Lviv houses two distinct monographic collections
of this outstanding researcher: a complete collection of Cretaceous foraminifera from the vicinity of
Rzeszów and a portion of Miocene mollusc collection from Poland and Western Ukraine. The collection
of foraminifera consists of 733 small glass vials, each of which contains microfossils. The collection is
accompanied by a notebook with a list of specimens, meticulously handwritten by Friedberg himself.
The collection is well-organized, but there might be a need for their comprehensive review due to
potential shifts in the contents of the vials, the overall condition of the material, as well as for taxonomic
revision. The collection of Miocene molluscs contains 27 specimens described by W. Friedberg as new.
The entire collection is well organized and the preservation of the shells remained good.
Keywords: Miocene, Cretaceous, molluscs, foraminifera, museum collection.

Natural history museums often serve as repositories for various natural history
collections, as well as places where the memory of those who created and studied them is
preserved. Each collection often reflects not only the richness of the natural world, but also
history of the efforts of scientists and collectors who invested time and effort in its creation
and research. Such materials may include records, correspondence, field journals, and other
documents, from which we can learn about the interaction of scholars with various
institutions and individuals involved in the collections. Commemorating collectors and
scientists is important because it helps maintain and popularize their legacy and contribution
to science and society. Additionally, it provides museum visitors with an opportunity to
deepen their understanding of the processes of creating scientific collections and the
importance of scientific research.