Shimek, Bohumil
Dates
- Existence: 1861-1937
Biography
Bohumil Shimek was born in Shueyville, Iowa, on June 25, 1861. His parents emigrated from Bohemia to the United States for political reasons in 1856. Shimek's mother died when he was five years old, and he grew up poor in Iowa City. In 1883, Shimek received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering at the State University of Iowa and worked in Iowa City as a surveyor after graduation. He taught at Iowa City High School from 1885 to 1888, then taught zoology at the University of Nebraska for two years. Thomas H. Macbride, head of the SUI Botany Department in 1890, lured Shimek back to Iowa City to instruct botany classes. In 1902, he took his masters degree at SUI. Shimek helped establish the Lakeside Biological Laboratory in 1908, and served as curator of the herbarium and chairman of the department. He traveled the state of Iowa to collect botanical and geological samples for his research and for deposit at the University. Shimek made many contributions in the area of conservation, as well as botany, geology, and zoology. Bohumil Shimek died January 30, 1937.
Citation:
Author: Denise Anderson, December 2006Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Bohumil Shimek Papers
The Papers of Bohumil Shimek include published material and field notes taken by Shimek, assessing geological and botanical features of Iowa counties and other areas of the Midwest around the turn of the twentieth century. The collection also includes a set of his articles, both published and unpublished, arranged alphabetically by title.