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James Chapin

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the American painter and illustrator, seeJames Ormsbee Chapin. For the jazz musician, seeJim Chapin.

American ornithologist (1889–1964)

James Paul Chapin

Born	(1889-07-09)9 July 1889
Died	5 April 1964(1964-04-05) (aged 74)
Alma mater	Columbia University (BA, MA, PhD)

James Paul Chapin (July 9, 1889 – April 5, 1964) was an Americanornithologist and curator of theAmerican Museum of Natural History.^[1]

Biography

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Chapin is one of the highest-regarded ornithologists of the twentieth century.^[2] He was joint leader (withHerbert Lang) of the Lang–Chapin expedition, which made a biological survey of theBelgian Congo between 1909 and 1915. For his workThe Birds of the Belgian Congo, Part I, he was awarded theDaniel Giraud Elliot Medal from theNational Academy of Sciences in 1932.^[3] He received a bachelor's degree in 1916, master's degree in 1917, and a doctorate in 1932, all fromColumbia University, and then began a lengthy career at theAmerican Museum of Natural History.^[2]^[4]

Chapin served as the 17th president ofThe Explorers Club from 1949 to 1950.

Intelligence officer in the Congo

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In 1942, Chapin was recruited by theOffice of Strategic Services intelligence agency as an intelligence officer. Under the cover of special assistant to the US consul based inLéopoldville, Chapin took the code name CRISP and reported back military and economic information. According toSusan Williams, he was "evidently more comfortable bird-watching than spy-watching" and was withdrawn from the Congo after a while. He was then admitted at a psychiatric clinic, was finally discharged in September 1943 and went back home. He resumed his functions at the American Museum of Natural History in October 1943.^[5]

Legacy

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Chapin is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of African reptiles:Ichnotropis chapini,Pelusios chapini, andTrioceros chapini.^[6]Chapin returned to the Belgian Congo in 1953 to continue fieldwork which he had started more than half a century earlier. When asked about his most famous discovery, he mentioned theCongo peafowl, adding that he had obtained a feather from this hitherto unknown bird from a pygmy on one of his expeditions, but had never seen the bird. It was unknown to science. Years later he was able to identify it as the rare Congo peafowl.

References

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^"Dr. James P. Chapin Dies at 74; Adventurous Authority on Birds; Natural History Museum's Curator Emeritus Sought Secrets of the Jungle".The New York Times. 1964-04-07.ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved2021-09-25.
^^a ^b"Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders". New York Public Library. Archived fromthe original on February 10, 2009.
^"Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Archived fromthe original on June 20, 2014. RetrievedMarch 5, 2015.
^Columbia College (Columbia University). Office of Alumni Affairs and Development; Columbia College (Columbia University) (1996).Columbia College today. Columbia University Libraries. New York, N.Y. : Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.
^Williams, Susan (2018).Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore that Built the Atomic Bomb. London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 29–39.ISBN 9781849049528.
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011).The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Chapin", pp. 51–52).