Finsch, Otto (1839-1917)

Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (1839-1917), a German born in Polish Silesia under Prussian rule, was a self-taught ethnologist, museum curator and ornithologist, known during his lifetime for his keen ethnographic observations and his collection skills. Today he is particularly noted for his involvement in the colonial annexation of the Bismarck Archipelago and part of New Guinea by Germany. Much remains to be discovered about the theoretical dimensions, including a form of cultural relativism before the term was coined, underlying his extensive work on the peoples and societies of the Pacific.

“A ‘Perceptive Observer’ in the Pacific: Life and Work of Otto Finsch”

Hilary Howes, 2018

Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (1839-1917) is best known today for his involvement in the German colonial annexation of northeast New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. A self-taught ornithologist, ethnologist and museum curator, he was recognised in his own lifetime as a “perceptive observer” (…)

Primary sources

Iconography

Portrait of Otto Finsch

Finsch, Otto (1839-1917)

“A ‘Perceptive Observer’ in the Pacific: Life and Work of Otto Finsch”

Neu-Guinea und seine Bewohner

Samoafahrten

Ethnologische Erfahrungen und Belegstücke aus der Südsee

Systematische Uebersicht der Ergebnisse seiner Reisen und schriftstellerischen Tätigkeit (1859-1899)

Portrait of Otto Finsch

Germany – History of German Anthropology and Ethnologies