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Hans Hass (born january 23, 1919 in Vienna, Austria) is a biologist and mainly known for his documentaries about sharks, the energon theory, and his commitment to the protection of the environment.
His Matura trip of 1937 to the Riviera, which included underwater hunting and photography, had a formative effect on him. After making expeditions to the Caribbean Sea and writing his first professional articles, in 1940 Hass switched from reading law to zoology studies and graduated in 1943.
In 1945 his research vessel got lost, so he addressed himself to anthropology and evolution. In 1947 his movie Menschen unter Haien (Men Among Sharks) had its world premiere in Zurich, and his most popular book with same title was released in 1948. As a consequence, he got contracts with Herzog-Film (Munich) and Sascha-Film (Vienna). He also performed his first "Xarifa" expeditions. The new research ship mostly had to be self-financed through photo safaris in the Red Sea and by the BBC.
After expeditions in East Africa and South Asia his first TV series were developed in 1959, in 1961 for the first time about creatures outside the water. This was followed by behavior research and the energon theory from 1963 to 1966 as the basis of the following works. Combined with management strategies, in 1969 Hass published about commonalities with the evolution. In the 1970s he addressed envorinmental and commercial themes and was appointed to a professorship by the University of Vienna.
In 1983 he started longtime studies and a huge amount of tutorials about predatory instincts in profession. Hass consolidated marine biology, behaviour research and management theories under one umbrella. From his point of view his energon theory cannot be disproved. In 1989 he addressed himself to environmental themes.
Hans Hass has been married to his second wife, Lotte Baierl, since 1950. His son, Hans, was born in 1946.
Publications
- 4 popular films
- about 70 TV films
- 20 books
Awards
- Biennale Prize 1951
- Oscar for extraordinary underwater photography for the film Unternehmen Xarifa 1959
- Austrian decoration for science and art 1998
- Konrad Lorenz Award 1999
- Five more science awards
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