Leonhard Hess Stejneger

Leonhard Hess Stejneger
Born	30 October 1851 Bergen, Norway
Died	28 February 1943 (age 91) Washington, D.C.
Education	Ph.D., University of Christiania
Occupation	biologist

Leonhard Hess Stejneger (30 October 1851 – 28 February 1943) was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians.

Stejneger was born in Bergen, Norway. His father was Peter Stamer Steineger, a merchant and auditor; his mother was Ingeborg Catharine (Hess). He was the eldest of 7 children. Until 1880, the Steineger family had been one of the wealthy families in Bergen; at that time business reverses led to the father's declaring bankruptcy.

Stejneger attended the Smith Theological School in Bergen from 1859–1860, and Bergen Latin School until 1869. His interests in zoology developed early. By age sixteen he had a printed catalogue of birds, and he painted birds in water color. He moved with his mother to Meran in South Tyrol and studied under a private tutor. He studied law and philosophy at the University of Christiania. He earned a Ph.D. and started a brief career as a lawyer.

In 1881 Stejneger moved to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1887. He started working at the Smithsonian Institution under Spencer Fullerton Baird. Stejneger participated in numerous expeditions to the northern parts of the North American continent. From 1882 to 1883 he was on an exploration mission to Bering Island and Kamchatka. In 1895 he went to the Commander Islands, studying fur seals for the U.S. Fish Commission. He returned there a second time in 1922.

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