Müller, Johann Friedrich Theodor

“Fritz” Müller was born at Windischholzhausen, Germany, on March 31, 1822. He entered the University of Berlin in 1841 with the intent of becoming a teacher, received his doctorate in 1844, and commenced teaching in a gymnasium at Erfurt. In 1852, Müller traveled to a German colony in Brazil. Though it was a primitive existence, Müller enjoyed his life in the colony, and again became a teacher, then a public officer, and finally a naturalist with the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. In 1863 Müller published “Für Darwin,” a treatise of support for Charles Darwin’s ideas. His studies on insect coloration, published in 1879, became famous and served as the basis for the concept of Müllerian mimicry.