American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Breder, Charles M. (Charles Marcus), 1897-1983; Breder, Charles M. (Charles Marcus), 1897-1983; Breder Jr., C. M.
birth: 1897 June 25
death: 1983 October 28
Charles Marcus Breder (1897-1983) was an ichthyologist who held curatorial and directorial positions at the New York Aquarium and the American Museum of Natural History, including the Museum’s Lerner Marine Laboratory. His repute rests in part on work in fish behavior, including locomotion, and prodigious writing. Throughout his career he undertook fieldwork within the Americas. Breder died at age eighty-six on October 28, 1983, in Englewood Hospital, Florida.
Charles Marcus Breder (1897-1983) was an ichthyologist who held curatorial and directorial positions at the New York Aquarium and the American Museum of Natural History, including the Museum’s Lerner Marine Laboratory. His repute rests in part on work in fish behavior, including locomotion, and prodigious writing. Throughout his career he undertook fieldwork within the Americas (including Panama, 1924; Florida, 1929, 1938-1942, 1957; Bahamas, 1930, 1932, 1933; Sargasso Sea and Caribbean Sea, 1934; Mexico, 1940; South America, Golfo de Guayaquil, 1942). (1) He produced about thirty volumes of journals. (2) Breder was born and grew up in New Jersey, and as an adult lived in Mahwah, New Jersey; North Bimini; Manasota Key, Florida; and other areas. Married three times (to Ruth B. Demarest, Ethel Lear Snyder, and Priscilla Rasquin, former assistant curator, Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology at the Museum), he was the father of two sons, Charles Marcus III and Richard Frederick, and a grandfather and great-grandfather of numerous children. (3) Late in life he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. (4) Breder died at age eighty-six on October 28, 1983, in Englewood Hospital, Florida. (5)
June 25, 1897Born to Albertine Louise (Agathe) and Charles Marcus Senior., Jersey City.
1918Grows up in Newark, New Jersey, and graduates from Central High School. (6), Newark.
November 18, 1918Marries Ruth B. Demarest.
1924Expedition Site
1924Participates in Marsh-Darien Expedition as representative for American Museum of Natural History., Panama.
1925Publishes research on fish locomotion, winning A. Cressy Morrison Prize (New York Academy of Sciences).
1929Fieldwork
1929Breder's Field Book of Marine Fishes is published (revised in 1948).
1930
April 17, 1933Marries Ethel Lear Snyder.
1934Expedition Site
April 28, 1937Breder’s father dies. , New York.
June 09, 1938Receives honorary doctorate in science from University of Newark., New Jersey.
January 1944Heads Museum’s Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology (previously Department of Fishes) as curator and chairman., New York.
1965Retires from the Museum and becomes curator emeritus. , New York.
1966His second wife dies.
1967Begins affiliation with Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in Placida, Florida (later renamed Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota), which Breder heads during 1967., Sarasota.
January 03, 1967Marries Priscilla Rasquin.
October 28, 1983Breder dies at age eighty-six in Florida. , Englewood.