CHARLES SCHWEINFURTH 
1890-1970 
AN APPRECIATION 
Charles Schweinfurth was a gentleman, scholar and 
scientist. He has made an indelible mark on the science 
of orchidology, and his influence will be long remembered 
in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University, the 
institution which he served tor many years. 
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on April 13, 1890, 
the only child of Julius Adolf and) Mary Frances 
Schweinturth, he attended public schools there. Enter- 
ing Harvard College in 1909, he concentrated in chem- 
istry, although, with his childhood interests in natural 
history, he did courses in biology, becoming especially 
drawn to taxonomic botany. After receiving the AB. 
degree cum laude in 1913, he devoted the following year 
to graduate studies at Harvard. 
An attack of poliomyelitis during his college years 
left him slightly paralyzed in the right arm. When he 
did complete his studies, medical advisors counselled 
against his following a career involving work in chemical 
laboratories. 
Charles” father, a world renowned architect, was a man 
of independent means, but his philosophy rebelled at 
permitting his son to live on accumulated wealth with- 
out working. At this time, the Ames Botanical Labora- 
tory in North Kaston, Massachusetts, functioning at the 
home of Professor Oakes Ames, was entering a very 
active period of research in orchidology. Professor Ames 
contracted young Schweinturth in 1914 to care for his 
living collection of orchids. 
It was not long before Ames, recognizing Charles’ 
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