Dov Ospovat – 50th Reunion Essay

Dov Ospovat

Date of Death: 28-Sep-1980

College: Trumbull

(From Claudia Ospovat in the Class Notes Archive)

Dov and I had a chance to talk about things of importance to us and to our two children, Corroley and Sammy, before he died. Because of these very difficult yet meaningful conversations I have changed my mind about wanting to “go suddenly” or in my sleep some night. What a waste all this is. Dov’s long-researched book, The Development of Darwin’s Theory: Natural History, Natural Theology, and Natural Selection, 1838–1859, had been accepted for publication by Cambridge University Press in May, he had just been given a substantial merit pay increase, and was scheduled to be vice chairman of the history department the second semester at the University of Nebraska. An excellent scholar, teacher, father and my best friend has died. I am sending his class dues because I know how much he loved Yale.

(This memorial was published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences in 1981 and reprinted on the Class Website)

Dov Ospovat, historian of the life sciences, died at the Lincoln General Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska. He had undergone open-heart surgery in May for removal of a malignant tumor of the heart. He is survived by his father and mother—his father being Alexander Ospovat, the distinguished historian of geology—and by his wife, Claudia, and their two sons, Corroley Jacob and Ethan Samuel.

Dov Ospovat graduated in 1965 from C.E. Donart High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he was co-valedictorian of his class. In 1969, he graduated cum laude from Yale University with a BA in history. In 1968, he married Claudia Weibel, also of Stillwater. After receiving his PhD. from Harvard University in 1975, he taught at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where in 1980 he was promoted from assistant to associate professor. His research interests centered on the development of natural history and geology in the nineteenth century. His major publications include: “The influence of Karl Ernst von Baer’s embryology, 1828-1859,” Journal of the History of Biology, 1976, 9, 1-28; “Lyell’s theory of climate,” Journal of the History of Biology, 1977, 10, 317-339; “Perfect adaptation and teleological explanation: approaches to the problem of the history of life in the mid-nineteenth century,” Studies in the History of Biology, 1978, 2, 33-56; “Darwin after Malthus,” Journal of the History of Biology, 1979, 12, 211-230; and “God and natural selection: the Darwinian idea of design,” Journal of the History of Biology, 1980, 13, 169-194.

In the final stages of his illness, but while he was still able to work, Dov completed the manuscript of a book, The Development of Darwin’s Theory; Natural History, Natural Theology, and Natural Selection, 1838-1859, to be published by Cambridge University Press in 1981. In this work, which is marked by its attention to both intellectual and social aspects of the development of evolutionary theory, Dr. Ospovat brought his broad knowledge of nineteenth-century natural history to bear on the development of Darwin’s theory from its inception to its publication.

In his professional life, Dov Ospovat was a hard-working and insightful contributor to the history of science as his publications testify. Less tangible but strikingly evident were the personal qualities of good humor, kindness, and compassion which he brought to his work. From all those who knew him—family members, fellow students, and colleagues—comes testimony to those qualities. He was a natural gentleman in all his actions and a treasured friend to many. He will be sorely missed. A fund has been organized by James Bono, David Kohn, Shirley Roe, and Frank Sulloway in the name of Dov Ospovat at Cambridge University Library for the care and preservation of the Darwin papers.