Winged beauties of the tropics

Passion for butterflies

The collection has been created by a Danish woman named Birthe Frandsen, who, over a period of 11 years from 1965 to 1976, worked as a nurse at the Danish hospital in Kinshasa, the capital of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fascinated by the beautiful creatures, she and her husband-to-be, the German physician Otto Arnold Jäger, collected most of the butterflies on trips around the vast country and its neighbouring countries. Other species were acquired by locals or students at the hospital’s nursing school, who brought the butterflies back with them from their native regions.

Butterfly symbolism

With its fragile beauty, the butterfly has captivated man for thousands of years. Its metamorphosis from lowly caterpillar to cocoon to fluttering butterfly symbolises immortality, femininity and grace. The diversity of the species goes back millions of years, and the earliest known butterfly fossils have been dated to the Eocene Epoch some 40–50 million years ago.

A formidable collection

Today, there are around 150,000 species of butterfly registered worldwide. When Birthe Frandsen went on field studies in the jungle with her husband, many species were yet undiscovered, and new and unknown species could therefore turn up in the net. With the enthusiasm of the passionate amateur and the thoroughness of the scientist, they collected their butterflies. Underlying this unique collection of butterflies and moths, which they created during their years in Africa, lies extensive classification work. The almost 500 showcases and trunks containing Africa’s winged beauties add yet another chapter to the wonderful world of the lepidopterologist.

The collection includes a complete list of species as well as various works of scientific literature.

Preview and auction

The auction finishes Thursday 19 June at bruun-rasmussen.dk. Until then there is ample opportunity to view parts of the butterfly collection on display at our department at Søren Frichs Vej 34 D in Aarhus from 6 June and until the day of the auction.

View the collection here