Kurt Benirschke (1924 - 2018)

Kurt Benirschke (right) with Oliver Ryder

Sad to record the death of Kurt Benirschke at age 94. Among many achievements is his web site Comparative Placentation (previous post). This invaluable resource is particularly strong on primates and even-toed ungulates such as antelopes.

The placentas came mainly from San Diego Zoo where Kurt Benirschke also took the initiative to create a biobank of cryopreserved tissues (The Frozen Zoo) and laid the foundation for what became San Diego Global's Institute for Conservation Research. 

To many he is best known for his textbook Placental Pathology. The second  (1990) and subsequent editions were written with Peter Kaufmann. It is now in a sixth edition edited by Kurt Benirschke, Graham Burton and Rebecca Baergen.

The Annual Kurt Benirschke Lecture at UC San Diego 2018

Five years ago Kurt Benirschke suffered a stroke but he remained active and alert. According to today's obituary in San Diego Union Tribune, he and his wife visited San Diego Zoo as recently as last week. 

To learn about Kurt Benirschke's life in his own words see the short version here or his interview with Rebecca Baergen here.