Alexander von Frantzius (10 June 1821 – 18 July 1877) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

.

Frantzius collected natural history specimens in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 from 1849–1853 and Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 in 1853, many of which he sent to Jean Cabanis

Jean Cabanis

Jean Louis Cabanis was a German ornithologist.Cabanis was born in Berlin. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1835 to 1839, and then travelled to North America, returning in 1841 with a large natural history collection. He was assistant and later director of the Berlin University Museum,...

 at the Berlin Museum. He set up a pharmacy in San José in Costa Rica, employing José Castulo Zeledón

José Castulo Zeledón

José Castulo Zeledón was a Costa Rican ornithologist.He was the son of Don Manuel Zeledón, governor of the district of San José. José became interested in birds at an early age, and learnt about ornithology from the German naturalist and physician Alexander von Frantzius, when he was employed at...

 as his assistant. He returned to Germany in 1868.

He is commemorated in the names of a number of animals, including the Prong-billed Barbet

Prong-billed Barbet

The Prong-billed Barbet is a distinctive, relatively large-billed bird native to humid highland forest in Costa Rica and western Panama.It often has been placed with the other barbets in the Capitonidae...

 Semnornis frantzii, the Fiery-billed Aracari

Fiery-billed Aracari

The Fiery-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus frantzii, is a toucan, a near-passerine bird which breeds only on the Pacific slopes of southern Costa Rica and western Panama. The binomial commemorates the German naturalist Alexander von Frantzius.-Description:...

 Pteroglossus frantzii, the Mountain Elaenia

Mountain Elaenia

The Mountain Elaenia, Elaenia frantzii, is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds in highlands from Guatemala to Colombia and western Venezuela. The scientific name celebrates the German physician and naturalist, Alexander von Frantzius.This tyrant flycatcher is 14-15...

 Elaenia frantzii and the Ruddy-capped Nightingale-thrush

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-thrush

The Ruddy-capped Nightingale-thrush is a small thrush which is a resident breeder in mountain forests from central Mexico to western Panama. A predominantly brown-plumaged bird, it has a rich song.-Taxonomy and naming:...

Catharus frantzii.