Guillermo (Willy) Kuschel (13 July 1918–1 August 2017)

Abstract

Three weeks after celebrating his 99th birthday in the company of family and friends, Guillermo (Willy) Kuschel completed a manuscript, had a beer and died peacefully in his sleep on the afternoon of 1 August 2017. It was a fitting end for a formidable man who had lived a full life and had gained a reputation as being all but indestructible. Willy is survived by his wife Beverley, their three children and four grandchildren. Born in Frutillar in southern Chile, Willy was the sixth of 11 children to parents of German heritage. He grew up on the family farm, speaking German and Spanish, and left home to attend boarding school. After completing his high-school education, he obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy in 1940 at the University of Chile. He then entered a seminary in Buenos Aires to become a priest, gaining a Licentiate in Theology in 1944. He learned French, classical Greek and Latin as part of his theological training (English came later). Soon after this, he became involved in biological research. Initially strongly interested in botany, he quickly became fascinated by weevils through their associations with plants, and this led to a Licentiate in Biology and Chemistry. He researched the biology and systematics of water weevils in the genus Lissorhoptrus for a PhD degree in biological sciences, conferred in 1953 and being the first PhD degree awarded by the University of Chile (and for all of Chile). From 1950 he was employed by the university as a research entomologist in the Centro de Investigaciones Zoológicas, and in 1957 he became head of the Department of Entomology. During his time at the University of Chile, he was president of the Sociedad Chilena de Entomología