Anton Dohrn

Felix Anton Dohrn FRS, FRSE
Born	(1840-12-29)29 December 1840 Stettin (Szczecin), Pomerania, Prussia
Died	26 September 1909(1909-09-26) (aged 68) Munich
Nationality	German
Education	University of Breslau
Known for	Principle of succession of functions, Der Ursprung der Wirbelthiere und das Princip des Functionswechsels: Genealogische Skizzen
Spouse	Maria Baranowska
Children	4 sons
Father	Carl August Dohrn
Relatives	Heinrich Wolfgang Ludwig Dohrn, brother
Scientific career
Fields	Biology
Institutions	University of Jena, Stazione Zoologica, Naples
Thesis	On the Anatomy of Hemiptera
Doctoral advisor	Eduard Grube

Felix Anton Dohrn FRS FRSE (29 December 1840 – 26 September 1909) was a prominent German Darwinist and the founder and first director of the first marine-biological and zoological research station in the world, the Stazione Zoologica in Naples, Italy. The institution became a centre for the exchange of biological ideas through the network of visitors from around the world. He worked on embryology and examined vertebrate origins in terms of functional phylogeny and proposed a principle of succession of functions in 1875 on how one organ could become the basis for the evolution of another of an entirely different function. He was an elected International Member of the American Philosophical Society.^[1] The institution transitioned from a private one to a public Italian organization through the subsequent management by his son Reinhard Dohrn.