|
History of the society
(from “The first ten years”, by John Heath — see full text in News 14)
The remarkable success over the last thirty years of the American Lepidopterists’ Society led many lepidopterists to realise that there was a need for a similar supranational society in Europe. Following proposals made by a number of leading lepidopterists a meeting was called by Dr. Rienk de Jong and Dr. O. Kudrna at Bonn on 18—19 September 1976 attended by 22 entomologists from eight European countries. The proposal to found a society to further the study of European Lepidoptera met with the general accord of this meeting. It was agreed that the aims of the society should be:
1. To facilitate contacts between lepidopterists of the western Palaearctic region.
2. To provide and distribute information concerning the Lepidoptera.
3. To assist members in tackling problems of mutual interest and provide a forum for their discussion.
4. To provide a body able to speak on matters concerning conservation of the Lepidoptera and their habitats at both national and international levels.
The meeting concluded with the election of a provisional Council the members of which were:
President — Dr. Rienk de Jong (Leiden, Netherlands)
Vice President — John Heath (Monks Wood, UK)
General Secretary — Günter Ebert (Karlsruhe, BRD)
Treasurer — Dr. Hans-Eckmar Back (Bonn, BRD)
Membership Secretary — Dr. P. Sigbert Wagener (Bocholt, BRD)
Meeting Secretary — Dr. Georges Bernardi (Paris, France)
Editor — Otakar Kudrna (Portsmouth, UK)
At the meeting it was decided that a Newsletter and a journal, Nota lepidopterologica, should be published. It was also agreed that a biennial Congress should be held, the first to be in Paris in early 1978. Following this initiative the new society was widely publicised and membership grew rapidly. At the end of April 1978 there were 390 members. The first number of Nota lepidopterologica was published on 01.XI.1977 under the editorship of Otakar Kudrna. Volume 1 consisted of 172 pages and by 1985 (vol. 8) the journal had grown to 392 pages. Parts 1—8 of the News were published under the editorship of Sigbert Wagener and parts 9—13 under the editorship of Willy De Prins.
Other publications have included the Proceedings of the second and third Congresses of European Lepidopterology, in Karlsruhe 1980 and Cambridge 19852 respectively. The Statutes and bye-laws were published in 1979 and in a revised form in 1986. Also Bibliographia europaea lepidopterologica has been published annually since 1977, initially as part of Nota but as a separate publication since 1982. Membership lists have been included in News or were published separately at irregular intervals. The languages presented in these publications are English, French and German. Where feasible, e.g. in News and the Statutes, translations in all three languages are provided.
The first Congress of European Lepidopterology was held at the Laboratoire d’Entomologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris 31 March to 1 April 1978. The Council has met on two occasions each year, in the spring and in autumn. Attendance at these meetings has been very good despite the long distances members have had to travel at their own expense. During the first ten years meetings have been held in Antwerp, Bocholt, Bonn, Budapest, Karlsruhe, Leiden, Montana, Paris, St.-Ives, and Wageningen.
Membership of the Council remained substantially the same throughout the first ten years. However, during that period there was a change of Editor, Emmanuel de Bros replacing O. Kudrna, and Dr. Miguel Gomez Bustillo succeeded Dr. G. Bernardi as Meetings Secretary on the latter’s resignation from Council in 1981. De. H.-E. Back was succeeded as Treasurer by Dr. Sigbert Wagener and W. De Prins was appointed to succeed Dr. Wagener as Membership Secretary in 1982.
Throughout the ten years the Society has pursued a policy supporting the conservation of the Lepidoptera. To this end SEL has excluded trading in specimens from all meetings, and dealers are excluded from membership. Several members have been active at the national lever preparing Red Lists for the Lepidoptera, running according schemes, as part of the European Invertebrate Survey or striving to protect habitats for the Lepidoptera.
(and from “25 years ago, how it all started” by Rienk de Jong — see full text in News 34)
It is difficult to realize, but at the time computers were rare and expensive, and internet was still unheard of. Correspondence went by snail mail. The composition of the provisional council was such that several members could regularly meet in person. This was important since various technical matters had to be dealt with to get the society off the ground. Statutes and bye-laws had to be prepared to be accepted or amended by the General Meeting in 1978. In eight months there was already a membership of 203, from 20 European and two non-European countries, and one year later the membership was 370. The first Congress, held 29 March — 1 April 1978 in Paris, was a great success. Some 90 attendants from 17 countries proved that also in lepidopterology Europe was more than a political term. During the General Meeting the provisional council was re-elected, and the Statutes and bye-laws were accepted. A dream had taken shape and the shape had come of age.
Some data:
Presidents of SEL:
Dr. Rienk de Jong (Netherlands) — 1976—1986
Dr. Emilio Balletto (Italy) — 1986—1998
Dr. Niels P. Kristensen (Denmark) — 1988—2007
Dr. Gerhard Tarmann (Austria) — 2007—
Honorary members (in sequence of election):
C. Eisner (Netherlands)
Dr. L. G. Higgins (United Kingdom)
Y. de Lajonquière (France)
Dr. Z. Lorkovic (Yugoslavia)
Dr. E. Urbahn (Germany)
Dr. B. Alberti (Germany)
Dr. J. Bourgogne (France)
Dr. E. Suomalainen (Finland)
Dr. L. Gozmány (Hungary)
P. Gilbert (United Kingdom)
Dr. J. Klimesch (Austria)
E. de Bros (Switzerland)
Dr. S. Wagener (Germany)
B. Goater (United Kingdom)
Dr. V. Kuznetzov (Russia)
Dr. C. Naumann (Germany)
G. Ebert (Germany)
P. Hättenschwiler (Switzerland)
Dr. Niels Peder Kristensen (Denmark)
Dr. Yuri P. Nekrutenko (Ukraine)
Congresses:
Paris (France) — 29 March — 01 April 1978
Karslruhe (Germany) — 09—12 April 1980
Cambridge (United Kingdom) — 13—16 April 1982
Wageningen (Netherlands) — 24—27 April 1984
Budapest (Hungary) — 07—10 April 1986
Sanremo (Italy) — 05—09 April 1988
Lunz-am-See (Austria) — 03—08 September 1990
Helsinki (Finland) — 19—23 April 1992
Lednice (Czech Republic) — 05—09 September 1994
Miraflores (Spain) — 03—07 May 1996
Malle (Belgium) — 22—26 March 1998
Bialowieza (Poland) — 28 May — 01 June 2000
Korsør (Denmark) — 01—06 June 2002
Rome (Italy) — 12—17 September 2005
Erkner (Germany) — 08—12 September 2007
Cluj (Romania) — 25—31 May 2009
Field Congress:
Sesvenna (Italy) — 06—11 July 2004
|
