Günther Maul

Who was Günther Maul?

Günther Edmund Maul born in Frankfurt am Main 7 May 1909, dead in Funchal 28 September 1997, was a German ichthyologist and taxidermist in Portugal. Maul came to Madeira in December 1930 to work as taxidermist at Museu Municipal do Funchal, which opened to the public in 1933. He was appointed director for the museum in 1940, a post that he held to his retirement in 1979. He, however, continued his research until shortly before his death. He started two journals and opened the museum's aquarium to the public in 1959. He also participated in several expeditions including with the French bathyscaphe Archimède in 1966 and organised the first multidisciplinary expedition to the Salvage Islands in 1963. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Madeira in 1995.

He described several species of fish and has at least three species and one genus of fish, one fossil owl and one moth named in his honour.