Sabater Pi (20th Century)

 

Sabater Pi was one of the founding fathers of ethology and primatology, but not well known as usual happens with talents in Spain. He was also one of the original pioneers in chimpanzee and gorilla field studies. He lived in Africa for thirty years, and his works, published in a number of popular science books and journals, and his beautiful drawings, give us a profile of this great naturalist.

Born in Barcelona, Jordi Sabater Pi (1922-2009) became a specialist in the study of ethology and anthropology during the period of his life between 1940 and 1969, when he conducted field research in Equatorial Guinea and came to be considered a world authority on the study of primates in their natural habitat.

His discovery of chimpanzee cultures living in the Okorobiko mountains in Equatorial Guinea and their use of sticks to create a basic form of community industry, of the giant frog Conraua goliath in the waterfalls of the river Mbia and of the rare honeyguide bird Melichneutes robustus are some of his more celebrated research accomplishment; and of course he is also known for his work in having brought the albino gorilla known as Snowflake to Barcelona Zoo

 

 

 

The Sabater Pi Collection, located at the Barcelona Science Park, contains documents summarizing the scientific and graphic work of Jordi Sabater Pi, Professor Emeritus at the University of Barcelona.

The collection essentially consists of books and journals on topics related to ethology, primatology and anthropology, although other documents on botany, history, geography and psychology can also be found. In total, The Sabater-Pi Collection includes more than 5,500 handwritten documents.

 

 

As usual, set of external links:

• The video on this link about Snowflake, the albino gorilla discovered by Sabater Pi.
• The most direct link to the sketch books of Sabater Pi from the University of Barcelona within the Memòria Digital de Catalunya --- the images above were taken from the sets towards the bottom of the page
  
  
  The University of Barcelona's Virtual Museum has a collection of 75 images from the Sabater Pi collection: something of an overview of the sketch albums, but with additional paraphernalia.
  
  

Wikipedia: Sabater Pi | Ethology | Primatology