17 Facts About Bohumil Shimek

Bohumil Shimek was an American naturalist, conservationist, and a professor at the University of Iowa.

Bohumil Shimek was born on a farm near Shueyville, Iowa to Czech parents, Maria Theresa and Francis Joseph Bohumil Shimek, who came to the United States to escape religious and political persecution under the Austrian Empire.

In 1878, Francis Bohumil Shimek became paralyzed and later died in 1880.

Bohumil Shimek first attended college in 1878 at the University of Iowa as a student of engineering.

Bohumil Shimek graduated from the university in 1883 with a degree in civil engineering, and subsequently worked as a railroad and county surveyor.

Bohumil Shimek later taught of zoology at the University of Nebraska from 1888 to 1890, and later returned to the University of Iowa as an instructor in botany.

Bohumil Shimek served as head of the botany department at University of Iowa from 1914 to 1919.

Bohumil Shimek traveled extensively in North America studying nature, and spent time traveling in Czechoslovakia, and Nicaragua.

Bohumil Shimek especially traveled extensively throughout the American midwest and throughout every region of Iowa.

Records show that between 1925 and 1928 Bohumil Shimek had collected more than 10,000 specimens in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Bohumil Shimek was a member of the Iowa State Geological Board.

Bohumil Shimek was chairman of the geological section of the International Scientific Congress held in Europe in 1911 as a tribute to his important contributions.

Bohumil Shimek worked with his personal friend, historian Thomas G Masaryk, who was exiled to the United States.

Bohumil Shimek was awarded a special Czech medal of honor in 1927.

In 1932, Bohumil Shimek retired after teaching for over 46 years.

Bohumil Shimek died in Iowa City, Iowa, on January 30,1937, of heart complications caused by influenza.

Bohumil Shimek was 75 years old at the time of his death.