Reuss, Albert Franz Theodore

Born in Munich in the family of the famous tantric occultist, head of the Order of the Oriental Templars , Theodor Reuss and Dolphin Gabrois from Dublin . Even before Albert’s birth, the marriage of his parents was annulled by a German court, probably due to his mother’s dualism ^[2] .

At first, Reuss was interested in butterflies , later he became interested in snakes . He lived and worked in Berlin , where he made a living selling snake venom and butterflies. In addition, he held group presentations on the maintenance of aquariums and terrariums in various amateur societies ^[1] and headed one of these societies in the second half of the 1930s ^[3] . He did not graduate and called himself self-taught . Reuss was also a gifted artist, the main theme of his work was snakes ^[1] .

Reuss has published many articles in German and English in various magazines, often not professional ones, under his own name and under the pseudonym “SA Sure”. His ideas about biological systematics differed from those generally accepted in science: he described many “new” genera, species, and subspecies ^[4] . In particular, he described many varieties of the Common Viper , considering each described individual as a separate taxon ^[5] . In compiling the names of taxa, he used the sources rejected by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and the personal nicknames of his pets. For an unscientific approach to the systematics of his publication, they were constantly criticized, however, despite the knowledge about this, Reuss practically did not take into account the work of other scientists ^[6] .

As a result, only three of the taxa described by Reuss received scientific recognition: two viper genera - Macrovipera and Acridophaga - and one new species, Vipera eriwanensis ^[6] .

Reuss was distinguished by his carelessness in handling snakes, including dangerous poisonous species. This has repeatedly led to incidents in which he or strangers were bitten. His pets often escaped from terrariums and even from his house to the street. As a result, Reuss repeatedly wrote denunciations, he received police warnings and was arrested ^[7] .

According to Wolfditrich Schnurre , whose father was acquainted with Reuss, the latter often had to move, as homeowners protested against the maintenance of poisonous snakes ^[4] .

• Krecsák László, Bohle Daniel. The eccentric Adder man: a note on the life and works of Albert Franz Theodor Reuss (1879-1958 ) // Herpetological Bulletin: Journal. - 2008. - No. 103 . - P. 1-10 .