A personal memory of Walter Linsenmaier

I use this site, between public and private, in order to remember the figure of Walter Linsenmaier, expert of Chrysididae, enthusiast of Nature, of its shapes and of its colors, and Master.
I met Dr. h.c. W. Linsenmaier several years ago, when I was very young. I sent a letter to Switzerland, to the small city named Ebikon, writing His Name and nothing more. Thanks to the scruple of an unknown Postman and thanks to the tenderness my letter probably inspired in Him, an occasional but constant correspondence between Dr. W. Linsenmaier and I began. I remember an infinite correctness, an always quiet kindness and a deep and serene certainty. In the name of what I had the opportunity to learn from this correspondence, I called Him Master and I dedicated the description of a subspecies to His specialistic works. A small gift to thank Him officially. In recent times, after the publication of the "Die Goldwespen der Schweiz" volume, W. Linsenmaier sent me an autographed copy, with a friendly dedication. And that was the last time I received a mail from Him.
In front of His death, remain His memory, the good purposes and the hope of a serious devotion to a way shown with delicate wisdom dwell. I dedicate therefore my electronic job to the memory of Dr. Walter Linsenmaier, with the hope to be useful to the young entomologists, in the same way as the letters of the dead Master were for me.

The collection of Dr. W. Linsenmaier (250,000 insects and 60,000 Chrysidids) has been acquired by the Nature Museum of Luzern and represents one of the most important collections worldwide, with beyond 2,500 species and subspecies holotypi. As far as His scientific production is concerned please refer to the Literature page under the Chrysidid Introduction.