V spomin prof. dr. Franzu Pirchnerju
(1927-2019)
Franz Pirchner je bil rojen v Imstu na Tirolskem, kjer se je na domači kmetiji prvič srečal z živinorejo. Po končani osnovni šoli je obiskoval trgovsko šolo in trgovsko akademijo v Innsbrucku, po vojni pa je leta 1945 začel s študijem medicine na Univerzi v Innsbrucku, leto kasneje pa se je vpisal na Veterinarsko fakulteto na Dunaju, leta 1950 pa še na Kmetijsko univerzo (BoKu) na Dunaju. Po diplomah na Veterinarski fakulteti (1950) in Kmetijski univerzi (1952), je dve leti deloval na Tirolski kmetijski zbornici v Innsbrucku, nato pa je odšel na doktorski študij v Združene države Amerike, kjer je pod mentorstvom J.L. Lush-a leta 1957 doktoriral na Iowa State University. Po nekajletnem delu na živinorejskem inštitutu Rottenhaus pri Wieselburgu in kot genetik v perutninarski industriji v ZDA in v Nemčiji, se je leta
1964 odzval vabilu Veterinarske fakultete na Dunaju in postal redni profesor na Katedri za živinorejo, leta 1971 pa je sprejel povabilo Tehniške univerze v Münchnu, Weihenstephan, kjer je kot redni profesor za živinorejo in genetiko deloval do upokojitve leta 1995.
Njegovo raziskovalno in pedagoško delo je bilo usmerjeno v populacijsko in kvantitativno genetiko domačih živali s posebnim poudarkom na ohranjanju lokalnih pasem. Njegov učbenik Populationsgenetik in der Tierzucht (Population Genetics in Animal Breeding) je njegov najpomembnejši prispevek k razvoju genetike v živinoreji in še danes predstavlja eno temeljnih študijskih gradiv za študente živinoreje v številnih državah. Raziskovalni opus prof. Pirchnerja obsega več kot 200 znanstvenih publikacij, tekom svojega pedago-
Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 114/2, 317-318, Ljubljana 2019
P. DOVČ
škega delovanja pa je bil mentor 60 doktorandom, ki so k njemu prihajali iz celega sveta. Številni med njimi so danes univerzitetni profesorji na področju genetike in živinoreje. Njegovo izredno široko poznavanje strokovne literature je spodbujalo poglobljene in plodne diskusije, ki so pogosto pomenile začetek novih trendov v živinoreji. Prof. Pirchner je bil član odbora za genet-sko-statistične metode pri Nemškem genetskem društvu, bil je odgovorni urednik revije Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics (1975-1998), član uredniškega odbora revije Archiv für Tierzucht, predsednik komisije za genetiko pri EAAP (1966-1972), predsednik mednarodnega stalnega odbora WCGALP (1988-1992) in nemškega društva za znanost v živinoreji (1984-1988). Za njegov znanstveni doprinos je prejel častna doktorata Univerze v Ghentu, Belgija in ETH v Zürichu, Švica. Nemško živinorejsko združenje mu je leta 1998 podelilo medaljo Hermanna Nathusiusa. Prof. Pirchner je bil 25 let član uredniškega odbora revije Acta Agriculturae Slovenica (AAS), kjer je s svojimi nasveti in kakovostnimi recenzijami pomembno prispeval k rasti naše revije.
In Memoriam Prof. Franz Pirchner, PhD
(1927-2019)
Born in Imst, Tyrol, Franz Pirchner was first introduced to livestock farming on a domestic farm. After graduating from elementary school, he attended the Commercial School and the College of Commerce in Innsbruck. After the world war II he entered study of medicine at the University of Innsbruck in 1945, and a year later he moved to the Veterinary Faculty in Vienna in 1946. In 1950 he started also the study of agriculture at the Agricultural University. (BoKu) in Vienna. After graduating from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (1950) and the Agricultural University (1952), he worked for two years at the Tyrol Chamber of Agriculture in Innsbruck. After that he moved to United States of America, where he prepared his doctorate under the mentorship of J.L. Lush. In 1957, he received his doctorate from the Iowa State University. After working for several years at the Rottenhaus Livestock Research In-
stitute at Wieselburg and as a geneticist in the poultry industry in the US and in Germany, he accepted the invitation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna in 1964 and became a full professor at the Department of Animal Production. In 1971 he accepted the invitation of the Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan, where he kept the position of full professor of Animal breeding and genetics until his retirement in 1995.
His research and teaching work has focused on population and quantitative genetics in domestic animals with a particular focus on the conservation genetics in local breeds. His textbook Population Genetics in Animal Breeding (Populationsgenetik in der Tierzucht) is his most important contribution to the development of genetics in animal breeding and is still one of the core study materials for animal science students in many countries. The research opus of prof. Pirchner counts more than 200 scientific publications, and during his teaching career he has been a mentor to 60 doctoral students coming from all over the world. Many of them are university professors in genetics and animal husbandry today. His extraordinarily broad knowledge of the scientific literature was a motivation for numerous in-depth and fruitful discussions that often marked the beginning of new trends in livestock production. Prof. dr. Pirchner was a member of the Board of genetic-statistical methods at the German Genetic Society, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics (1975-1998), a member of the editorial board of Archiv für Tierzucht, chairman of the genetics committee at EAAP (1966-1972 ), chairman of the WCGALP International Standing Committee (1988-1992) and the German Society for Animal Science (19841988). For his scientific contributions he received honorary doctorates from the University of Ghent, Belgium and the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1998, the German Association for animal production awarded him the Hermann Nathusius Medal. Prof. dr. Pirchner has been a member of the editorial board of Acta Agricul-turae Slovenica (AAS) for 25 years, where he has made a significant contribution to the growth of our magazine through his advice and high quality reviews.
Prof. dr. Peter Dovč
31S Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 114/2 - 2019