Fatio was born as Victor Fatio de Beaumont in Geneva. His interest in animals was aroused in childhood, when he was accompanied his father, Gustave Fatio de Beaumont, on his hunting trips. He studied physiology in Zurich, Berlin and Leipzig where he received the degree of a Doctor of Philosophy. In 1861 however, he almost forgot his physiology knowledge due to a typhoid fever illness. After his recovery he went to Paris in 1862 to participate in the courses of Henri Milne-Edwards at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, where he studied zoology. When Phylloxera invaded Switzerland in 1874, Fatio made extensive studies and initiated the world's first congress for the prevention of the grapevine pest which took place in Lausanne in 1877. The results of his studies and the congress were published in his workÉtat de laquestion phylloxérique en Europe en 1877 in 1878. Furthermore, he wrote several publications about Phylloxera in Switzerland and in Savoy. Between 1869 and 1904 his standard work Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse was released, a comprehensive work with six volumes about the mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish species of Switzerland. Together with Théophile Rudolphe Studer, Victor Fatio published the Catalogue des oiseaux de la Suisse, of which only the first three booklets were released between 1889 and 1901. Further sixteen volumes were released by other editors until 1956. Fatio described several animal speciesfor the first time like the Albock, the Pfarrig, the Autumn brienzlig, or the Alpine pine vole.
Works (incomplete list)
Instructions sommaires à l'usage des Commissions centrales d'étude et de vigilance du Phylloxera des départements de la Savoie et de la Haute-Savoie. Chambéry, Ménard, 1877. C'est un opuscule destiné à permettre de reconnaître les premières attaques du phylloxéra.
Die Phylloxera. Kurzgefaßte Anweisungen zum Gebrauche für die kantonalen und eidgenössischen Experten in der Schweiz. Ins Deutsche übertragen von H. Krämer. Aarau, 2. Aufl. 1879
Catalogue des Oiseaux de la Suisse – 1: Rapaces diurnes / par V. Fatio et D. Studer. 1889
Catalogue des Oiseaux de la Suisse – 2: Hiboux et Fissirostres / par V. Fatio et Th. Studer. 1894
Des diverses modifications dans les formes et la coloration des plumes.. 1866
Les campagnols du bassin du Léman. 1867
Importance d'une assurance mutuelle contre le Phylloxera dans le canton de Genève. 1879
Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse – Histoire naturelle des Mammifères. Genève et Bâle. H. Georg, 1869
Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse – Histoire naturelle des reptiles et des batraciens. . Genève et Bâle. H. Georg, 1872
Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse – Histoire naturelle des Poissons. IIme partie. Physostomes, Anacanthiens, Chondrostéens, Cyclostomes.. Genève et Bâle. H. Georg, 1890
Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse – Histoire naturelle des Oiseaux Ie Partie. Genève et Bâle. H. Georg, 1899
Faune des Vertébrés de la Suisse – Histoire naturelle des Oiseaux IIe Partie. Genève et Bâle. H. Georg, 1904
Literature about Victor Fatio
Maurice Boubier. L’Évolution de l’ornithologie. Librairie Félix Alcan, coll. Nouvelle collection scientifique : ii + 308 p.
