Jiří Baum

A Czech zoologist, museum curator and explorer, lived 1900 – 1944. He graduated at the Faculty of Science, Charles university, later he served as the director of the zoological department of the National Museum in Prague. In the 1920s and 1930s he extensivly travelled around the world in a Tatra campervan. He undertook four main expeditions and other short visits to Africa and a zoological expedition in the Australian outback. He visited Malaya shortly after his doctoral studies in 1928. In Taiping he met (by accident) Raphael Kubelik, the famous Czech conductor and composer.. Although after years he admitted, that exploring Malaya was the trip of his lifetime, he never published any scientific book or study about this visit. Surprisingly, he released two books for children. „On the shores of the Indian ocean“ (1936) and „Abdal´s adventureous trip“ (1940), which deeply reflect his sentiments towards Malaya. He spoke Malay and became the first translator of the famous „Pa Belalang“ into Czech (1930). His large photographic archive (about 15000 negatives) from many parts of the world incl Malaya taken mostly 1928 – 1939 is now in the Archives of the National Museum in Prague. He died in the Warsaw Ghetto.