ALFRED RADDA
(1936-2022)

Alfred Karl Radda was born on September 18, 1936, in Vienna, Austria. After graduating from high school, Alfred Radda studied zoology and botany at the University of Vienna, and in 1975 he became a lecturer in virology, with a special focus on ecology. In 1988, he was appointed full professor at the same institution.

Radda was especially interested in fish science, which he pursued alongside his professional career as a virologist. He undertook numerous expeditions in search of oviparous Cyprinodontiformes, particularly in West Africa, Central America, and South America. He referred to these journeys as “study and collecting trips” in the article A Review of Aphyosemion gulare (Blgr) and its Relatives with the Description of Aphyosemion kribianum nov. spec.. Some of these expeditions became landmarks in killifish exploration and resulted in the discovery and description of numerous species new to science. Radda himself described more than 80 new taxa. His close cooperation with fellow Austrian aquarist and explorer Eduard Pürzl is also well known.

He was a highly prolific writer, authoring numerous books and articles with a strong emphasis on killifish. Follow the link under Bibliography to access a comprehensive list of his publications.

The species Aphyosemion raddai (Scheel, 1975) and the subgenus Raddaella (Huber, 1977) were named in his honour.

Radda passed away on July 20, 2022 at the age of 85 and he will always be remembered as one of the Great Explorers of killifish. (VG)

(the Editor wishes to thank Eduard Pürzl for providing most of the photographs illustrating this page)