Herbert R. Axelrod

Herbert Richard Axelrod(June 7, 1927 – May 15, 2017) was an Americantropical fishexpert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur.In 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison fortax fraud.

Herbert R. Axelrod
Born	(1927-06-07)June 7, 1927 Bayonne, New Jersey,US
Died	May 15, 2017(2017-05-15)(aged 89) Zurich,Switzerland, US
Alma mater	New York University (PhD)
Occupation(s)	tropical fish expert, publisher of pet books, musical instrument collector, and entrepreneur

Early life

Axelrod was born to a Jewish familyin New Jersey, the son of immigrant parents from Russia. His father was a mathematics and violin teacher, and his mother was a civilian employee of theU.S. Navy.

Aquatics and publishing

While serving in anArmy MASH unitin Korea, he wrote his bookThe Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes,which eventually sold more than one million copies.After returning from Korea, Axelrod earned a Ph.D. inbiostatisticsatNew York Universityand started the magazineTropical Fish Hobbyist.He wrote many other books on tropical fish and founded apublishing firm,TFH Publications(named for the magazine) that became the largest publisher of pet books in the world.TFH Publications was headquartered first inJersey City, New Jersey,and then inNeptune, New Jersey.The New York Timeshas written that "his importance was undeniable. In an era before web forums and Google, collectors turned toTropical Fish Hobbyistand Axelrod's dozens of books ".

In 1956, Leonard P. Schultz described thecardinal tetra,a popularaquariumfish, and gave it itsscientific name,Paracheirodon axelrodi,which honors Axelrod.Although the fish had been discovered in Brazil in 1953 by Harald Sioli, adiscuscollector, Axelrod claimed that he had made the discovery himself during a steamboat trip on theRio Negro,and he sent fish that he purchased from a dealer in New Jersey to theSmithsonian Institution,where the species was identified.

In 1989, Axelrod donated his collection of fossil fish to theUniversity of Guelph,which the university says is one of the largest donations by an individual to a Canadian university.The Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology at that university was named for him. The University of Guelph also named a lecture hall after him, the Axelrod Building, but in 2010 renamed it the Alexander Building, afterLincoln Alexander.

In 1997 Axelrod sold TFH Publications toCentral Garden & Pet Companyof California for $70 million. The contract included potential payouts to Axelrod if TFH reached earnings targets after the sale. He sued under that provision, accusing Central Garden of suppressing earnings to avoid paying the extra money. The following year, however, the purchaser filed a countersuit against him, claiming that he had grossly and illegally inflated the value of the company before the purchase.On September 1, 2005, Axelrod was ordered to pay Central Garden & Pet Company $16.4 million (net, after deducting $3.7 million the company was ordered to pay Axelrod due to earnings targets).

Musical instruments collection

TheAxelrod quartet,on display in theSmithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of American History

Axelrod, a violinist himself, assembled a large collection of old and rarestringed instruments,including theHellier Stradivarius.In 1975 he bought his firstStradivariusviolin.In 1998 he donated four Stradivari instruments — two violins, a viola and a cello — to theSmithsonian Institution.Known as theAxelrod quartet,their value was estimated at $50 million.In February 2003 he sold about 30 other instruments to theNew Jersey Symphony Orchestra(NJSO) for $18 million. This collection was estimated to be worth $49 million. (Axelrod was a long-time supporter of the NJSO.)

Further legal difficulties

Questions surfaced about the value of the instruments he had donated to the Smithsonian and the NJSO. Although the instruments were all old and valuable, several unnamed experts determined them not to be the instruments he represented them as, and not to be as valuable as he claimed. He was said to have invented histories for the instruments to explain away doubts or to increase their worth.In an unrelated case,Axelrod was indicted infederal courtin New Jersey on April 13, 2004, accused of funneling millions of dollars intoSwiss bank accountsover 20 years without paying taxes. The following April 21, he failed to appear for his arraignment, having fled to Cuba.He was arrested in Berlin on June 15, 2004 as he got off a plane from Switzerland,and then extradited to the United States. On March 21, 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison for tax fraud.

Legacy

The cardinal tetra,Paracheirodon axelrodi,was named for Axelrod.

For his philanthropy, theSmithsonian Institutionnamed Axelrod their 1999 Donor of the Year.

Axelrodia,a genus ofcharacinfrom South America, is named for him.

A number of fish species are also named for him, including

• The cardinal tetraParacheirodon axelrodi(L. P. Schultz,1956),
• The Trinidad tetraHyphessobrycon axelrodi(Travassos,1959),
• The black neon tetraHyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodiGéry,1961,
• The pink corydoras catfishCorydoras axelrodiRössel,1962,
• The African fishNeolebias axelrodiPoll&J. P. Gosse,1963,
• The South American characinSchultzites axelrodiGéry,1964which is in a genus all by itself,
• The South American characinBrittanichthys axelrodiGéry,1965,
• The Southeast AsianSundadanio axelrodi(Brittan,1976),is adanioninin the familyCyprinidae,with origin from Borneo,Bangka,and Sumatra.
• The Lake Malawi cichlidCynotilapia axelrodiW. E. Burgess,1976,
• The rainbowfishChilatherina axelrodiG. R. Allen,1979,
• ThemawsoniidAxelrodichthys spp.John G. Maisey,1986,
• The blennyEcsenius axelrodiV. G. Springer,1988,
• The marine fishPseudogramma axelrodiG. R. Allen&D. R. Robertson,1995,
• The Lake Tebera rainbowfishMelanotaenia herbertaxelrodiG. R. Allen,1981,
• The cichlidParananochromis axelrodiLamboj&Stiassny,2003,
• The AfricanLabeobarbus axelrodi(Getahun,Stiassny& Teugels, 2004),and
• A tube-snouted ghost knifefishSternarchorhynchus axelrodide Santana&Vari,2010.

The fishCorydoras narcissuswas first collected by Axelrod and Martin Brittan and subsequently described byHan NijssenandIsaäc J. H. Isbrücker,who named itnarcissusto recognize the collectors "for their many naming suggestions".

Selected publications

• Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes,McGraw-Hill, 1955.
• Saltwater Aquarium Fishes,TFH Publications, 1987.ISBN0-86622-499-8
• Lovebirds As a New Pet,TFH Publications, 1990.ISBN0-86622-617-6
• Swordtails and Platies,TFH Publications, 1991.ISBN0-86622-090-9
• African Cichlids of Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika,TFH Publications, 1988.ISBN0-87666-021-9
• Aquarium Fishes of the World,TFH Publications, 1998.ISBN0-7938-0493-0
• Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes,TFH Publications, 2004.ISBN0-7938-0033-1

Taxa described by him

• SeeCategory:Taxa named by Herbert R. Axelrod

See also

• Corydoras narcissus

External links

• University of Guelph Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology
• He's trying to put his cares behind him(2004 interview in Havana by Brian Donohue of the New JerseyStar-Ledger)