Franz Nopcsa von Felso-Szilvás
Encyclopedia
Baron
Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Franz Nopcsa, and Franz Baron Nopcsa) (May 3, 1877 – April 25, 1933) was a Hungarian-born
aristocrat
, adventurer, scholar, and paleontologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology
and Albanian studies
.
s in 1877 in Transylvania
, which at that time was a part of Austria-Hungary
. In 1895 Nopcsa's younger sister Ilona discovered dinosaur
bones at the family estate at Szentpéterfalva in Săcel
(Szacsal), Transylvania. This led to Nopcsa's enrollment at the University of Vienna
to study the fossil
ized bones. He advanced quickly in his studies; he gave his first academic lecture at the age of twenty-two.
In addition to Mesozoic
reptile
s, Nopcsa interests included nationhood
for Albania
, then a mere province of the Turkish-Balkan Ottoman Empire
, but aspiring independence. He was one of the few outsiders who ventured into the Albanian mountainous areas in the north of Albania. He soon learned the Albanian
dialects and customs.
Eventually, he had good relations with the leaders of the nationalist Albanian resistance against the Turk
s who occupied the region. Nopcsa gave passionate speeches and smuggled in weapons. In 1912 the Balkan states
joined forces to drive out the Turk
s. This was successful, but the newly-liberated states were immediately plunged into internal conflicts. However, out of these conflicts, Albania
arose as an independent state. At an international conference aiming to clarify the status of Albania, Nopcsa was at first a contender for the throne of that country.
Later, during the First World War, Nopcsa was a spy for Austria-Hungary
. He also led a group of Albanian wartime volunteers. However, with the defeat of Austria-Hungary at the end of the war, Nopcsa's native Transylvania
was ceded to Romania
. As a consequence, the Baron
of Felső-Szilvás lost his estates and other possessions. Compelled to find paid employment, he landed a job as the head of the Hungarian Geological Institute.
But Nopcsa's tenure in the Geological Institute was short-lived. He moved to Vienna
with his long-standing Albanian lover and secretary Bayazid Doda (a.k.a. Bajazid Elmas Doda) to study fossil
s. Yet there he ran into financial difficulties and was distracted in his work. To cover his debts, he sold his fossil collection to the Natural History Museum
in London
. Soon Nopcsa became depressed. Finally, in 1933, he fatally shot first his lover and then himself.
Nopcsa left behind a considerable quantity of scientific publications and private diaries. The diaries paint a picture of a complex man with great intuition, but without the ability to understand the motives of others. His devotion to the cause of the Albanians
was in contrast to his sociopathic insensitivity. In his diaries he nonchalantly wrote about his bid to become king
of Albania
:
Nopcsa's main contribution to paleontology
– and hence "paleobiology
" – was that he was one of the first researchers who tried to "put flesh onto bones." At a time when paleontologists were mainly interested in assembling bones, he tried to deduce the physiology
and living behavior
of the dinosaur
s he was studying. Nopcsa was the first to suggest that these archosaur
s cared for their young and exhibited complex social behavior.
Another of Nopcsa's theories that was ahead of its time was that bird
s evolved from ground-dwelling dinosaur
s, which developed feathers to run faster. This theory found favor in the 1960s and later gained wide acceptance, though later fossil finds of tree-living feathered dinosaurs suggest the development of flight may have been more complex than Nopcsa envisioned. Additionally, Nopcsa's conclusion that at least some Mesozoic
era reptile
s were warm-blooded
is now shared by much of the scientific community.
Nopcsa studied Transylvanian dinosaur
s intensively, even though they were smaller than their "cousins" elsewhere in the world. For example, he unearthed six-meter-long sauropods, a group of dinosaur
s which elsewhere commonly grew to 30 meters or more, which he named Magyarosaurus
. Nopcsa deduced that the area where the remains were found was an island (now called Haţeg
or Hatzeg basin in Romania
) during the Mesozoic
era. He theorized that "limited resources" found on islands commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animal
s" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism
. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism
-- also known as the island rule -- is today widely accepted (highlighted by Gareth Dyke in "The Dinosaur Baron of Transylvania" In Scientific American, October 2011, pp. 81-83). Additional pygmy
sauropods, named Europasaurus
, were recently discovered in northern Germany (analyzed by P. Martin Sander in Nature, 8 June 2006).
Nopcsa also created a theory about the dinosaurs' sexual dimorphism
. Among others, he thought that hadrosaurid
species
with the cranial crests were males and those without them were females. He paired Kritosaurus
with Parasaurolophus
, Prosaurolophus
with Saurolophus
and others. His examples were not proved to be true, but his opinion that sexual dimorphism was present among hadrosaurid dinosaurs has gained acceptance, see for example Lambeosaurus
.
As a result of the above studies and publications, Nopcsa is sometimes considered to be the "father" of modern paleobiology
, even though he originally termed the field as "paleophysiology."
But he was also an important geologist
. Indeed, Nopcsa was one of the first scholars to study the geology
of the western Balkans
, particularly northern Albania
.
, covering a wide range of linguistic
s, folklore
, ethnology
, history and kanun (that is, Albania
n customary law). He was the leading expert on Albania
in his time.
After Nopcsa's death, several of his important manuscripts were left unpublished. He participated in the work of the Albanian Congress of Trieste
, published his notes on the congress that became of particular historical
interest. The Albanological
part of his estate ended in the hand of Norbert Jokl
, a renowned specialist in Albanian studies. At that time, Nopcsa's material consisted of thousands of pages of notes, sketches and finished text. Subsequently, this library came into possession of Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
. When Frashëri was forced to flee the country, Nopcsa's materials were confiscated by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha
. Eventually, Nopcsa's manuscripts, drawings and completed writings formed the core of the Albanological section of Albania
's National Library.
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Franz Nopcsa, and Franz Baron Nopcsa) (May 3, 1877 – April 25, 1933) was a Hungarian-born
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, adventurer, scholar, and paleontologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology
Paleobiology
Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology...
and Albanian studies
Albanology
Albanology is the science that studies Albanian language and culture.The father of Albanology is often considered to be the Austrian Norbert Jokl, while the Croat Milan Šufflay and the Hungarian Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás are also among its famous founders.Among modern important Albanologists...
.
Life
Nopcsa was born to a long line of Hungarian aristocratAristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
s in 1877 in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, which at that time was a part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. In 1895 Nopcsa's younger sister Ilona discovered dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
bones at the family estate at Szentpéterfalva in Săcel
Sacel
Săcel may refer to several places in Romania:* Săcel, a commune in Harghita County* Săcel, a commune in Maramureş County* Săcel, a village in Băişoara Commune, Cluj County* Săcel, a village in Sântămăria-Orlea Commune, Hunedoara County...
(Szacsal), Transylvania. This led to Nopcsa's enrollment at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
to study the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
ized bones. He advanced quickly in his studies; he gave his first academic lecture at the age of twenty-two.
In addition to Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s, Nopcsa interests included nationhood
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
for Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, then a mere province of the Turkish-Balkan Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, but aspiring independence. He was one of the few outsiders who ventured into the Albanian mountainous areas in the north of Albania. He soon learned the Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
dialects and customs.
Eventually, he had good relations with the leaders of the nationalist Albanian resistance against the Turk
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
s who occupied the region. Nopcsa gave passionate speeches and smuggled in weapons. In 1912 the Balkan states
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
joined forces to drive out the Turk
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
s. This was successful, but the newly-liberated states were immediately plunged into internal conflicts. However, out of these conflicts, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
arose as an independent state. At an international conference aiming to clarify the status of Albania, Nopcsa was at first a contender for the throne of that country.
Later, during the First World War, Nopcsa was a spy for Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. He also led a group of Albanian wartime volunteers. However, with the defeat of Austria-Hungary at the end of the war, Nopcsa's native Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
was ceded to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. As a consequence, the Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
of Felső-Szilvás lost his estates and other possessions. Compelled to find paid employment, he landed a job as the head of the Hungarian Geological Institute.
But Nopcsa's tenure in the Geological Institute was short-lived. He moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
with his long-standing Albanian lover and secretary Bayazid Doda (a.k.a. Bajazid Elmas Doda) to study fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. Yet there he ran into financial difficulties and was distracted in his work. To cover his debts, he sold his fossil collection to the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Soon Nopcsa became depressed. Finally, in 1933, he fatally shot first his lover and then himself.
Nopcsa left behind a considerable quantity of scientific publications and private diaries. The diaries paint a picture of a complex man with great intuition, but without the ability to understand the motives of others. His devotion to the cause of the Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
was in contrast to his sociopathic insensitivity. In his diaries he nonchalantly wrote about his bid to become king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
:
Contributions to paleobiology and geology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
– and hence "paleobiology
Paleobiology
Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology...
" – was that he was one of the first researchers who tried to "put flesh onto bones." At a time when paleontologists were mainly interested in assembling bones, he tried to deduce the physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
and living behavior
Paleoecology
Paleoecology uses data from fossils and subfossils to reconstruct the ecosystems of the past. It involves the study of fossil organisms and their associated remains, including their life cycle, living interactions, natural environment, and manner of death and burial to reconstruct the...
of the dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s he was studying. Nopcsa was the first to suggest that these archosaur
Archosaur
Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...
s cared for their young and exhibited complex social behavior.
Another of Nopcsa's theories that was ahead of its time was that bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s evolved from ground-dwelling dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s, which developed feathers to run faster. This theory found favor in the 1960s and later gained wide acceptance, though later fossil finds of tree-living feathered dinosaurs suggest the development of flight may have been more complex than Nopcsa envisioned. Additionally, Nopcsa's conclusion that at least some Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
era reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s were warm-blooded
Warm-blooded
The term warm-blooded is a colloquial term to describe animal species which have a relatively higher blood temperature, and maintain thermal homeostasis primarily through internal metabolic processes...
is now shared by much of the scientific community.
Nopcsa studied Transylvanian dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s intensively, even though they were smaller than their "cousins" elsewhere in the world. For example, he unearthed six-meter-long sauropods, a group of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s which elsewhere commonly grew to 30 meters or more, which he named Magyarosaurus
Magyarosaurus
Magyarosaurus is a genus of dwarf sauropod dinosaur from late Cretaceous Period in what is now Romania. It is one of the smallest-known adult sauropods, measuring only six meters in length. The type species is Magyarosaurus dacus...
. Nopcsa deduced that the area where the remains were found was an island (now called Haţeg
Hateg
Hațeg is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 12,507. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad, Silvașu de Jos and Silvașu de Sus.Țara Hațegului is the region around Hațeg town...
or Hatzeg basin in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) during the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
era. He theorized that "limited resources" found on islands commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals – typically mammals – when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is distinct from the intentional creation of dwarf...
-- also known as the island rule -- is today widely accepted (highlighted by Gareth Dyke in "The Dinosaur Baron of Transylvania" In Scientific American, October 2011, pp. 81-83). Additional pygmy
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
sauropods, named Europasaurus
Europasaurus
Europasaurus is a basal macronarian sauropod, a form of quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic of northern Germany, and has been identified as an example of insular dwarfism resulting from the isolation of a sauropod population on an island within the Lower Saxony...
, were recently discovered in northern Germany (analyzed by P. Martin Sander in Nature, 8 June 2006).
Nopcsa also created a theory about the dinosaurs' sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
. Among others, he thought that hadrosaurid
Hadrosaurid
Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. They were common herbivores in the Upper Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia, Europe and North America. They are descendants of the Upper...
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
with the cranial crests were males and those without them were females. He paired Kritosaurus
Kritosaurus
Kritosaurus is an incompletely known but historically important genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. It lived about 73 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America...
with Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...
, Prosaurolophus
Prosaurolophus
Prosaurolophus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the remains of at least 25 individuals belonging to two species, including skulls and skeletons, but it remains obscure...
with Saurolophus
Saurolophus
Saurolophus is a genus of large hadrosaurine duckbill that lived about 69.5-68.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia; it is one of the few genera of dinosaurs known from multiple continents. It is distinguished by a spike-like crest which projects up and back...
and others. His examples were not proved to be true, but his opinion that sexual dimorphism was present among hadrosaurid dinosaurs has gained acceptance, see for example Lambeosaurus
Lambeosaurus
Lambeosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived about 76 to 75 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period of North America. This bipedal/quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaur is known for its distinctive hollow cranial crest, which in the best-known species resembled a hatchet...
.
As a result of the above studies and publications, Nopcsa is sometimes considered to be the "father" of modern paleobiology
Paleobiology
Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology...
, even though he originally termed the field as "paleophysiology."
But he was also an important geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
. Indeed, Nopcsa was one of the first scholars to study the geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of the western Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, particularly northern Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
Contribution to Albanian studies
During his lifetime Nopcsa published more than fifty scientific studies concerning AlbaniaAlbania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, covering a wide range of linguistic
Natural language
In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
s, folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
, history and kanun (that is, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n customary law). He was the leading expert on Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
in his time.
After Nopcsa's death, several of his important manuscripts were left unpublished. He participated in the work of the Albanian Congress of Trieste
Albanian Congress of Trieste
The Albanian Congress of Trieste was a congress of Albanians held in Trieste, Austria-Hungary in period February 27 — March 6, 1913, and organized by Faik Konica and Sotir Kolea....
, published his notes on the congress that became of particular historical
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
interest. The Albanological
Albanology
Albanology is the science that studies Albanian language and culture.The father of Albanology is often considered to be the Austrian Norbert Jokl, while the Croat Milan Šufflay and the Hungarian Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás are also among its famous founders.Among modern important Albanologists...
part of his estate ended in the hand of Norbert Jokl
Norbert Jokl
Norbert Jokl was an Austrian Albanologist of Jewish descent who has been called the father of Albanology.- Early life :...
, a renowned specialist in Albanian studies. At that time, Nopcsa's material consisted of thousands of pages of notes, sketches and finished text. Subsequently, this library came into possession of Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
Mit’hat Frashëri was an Albanian diplomat, writer and politician...
. When Frashëri was forced to flee the country, Nopcsa's materials were confiscated by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
. Eventually, Nopcsa's manuscripts, drawings and completed writings formed the core of the Albanological section of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
's National Library.
External links
- Baron Franz Nopcsa and the Dinosaurs of the Carpathian-basin – a book discussion in English by István Fõzy, A. Fogarasi, and O. Szives (2001), three Hungarian paleontologists (the first is the author).
- San Francisco Chronicle, "Studies reveal pygmy dinosaur species" 8 June 2006.
- Baron Franz Nopcsa and His Dream for the Albanian Throne (pdf) – essay by Gëzim Alpion (2002), a British scholar of East European studies.
- Baron Franz Nopcsa In: Encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture
- Histories: King of the duck-billed dinosaurs – magazine article by science writer Stephanie Pain (2005).
- Scientific American 2011. 09. 29. The Life and Legacy of the Dinosaur Baron
- The Treaty of Trianon took away the first dinosaur discovered in Hungary (an illustrated 2007 essay by Stöckert Gábor)
- Discussion of his book by author István Fõzy
- Information regarding the book by Fõzy
- Article about Fõzy and his book on Nopcsa