George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botanist during the last thirty years of his life, especially in the study of roses.
Boulenger was born in Brussels, Belgium, the only son of Gustave Boulenger, a Belgian public notary, and Juliette Piérart de Valenciennes. He graduated in 1876 from the Free University in Brussels with a degree in natural sciences and worked for a while at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels as an assistant naturalist studying amphibians, reptiles, and fishes. He also made frequent visits during this time to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and the British Museum in London.
In 1880, he was invited to work at the Natural History Museum, then a department of the British Museum, by Dr. Albert C. L. G. Günther and assigned to the task of cataloguing the amphibians in the collection. His position in the British Museum meant that he had to be a civil servant of the British Empire, and so became a naturalized British subject. In 1882 he became a first-class assistant in the Department of Zoology and remained in that position until his retirement in 1920.
After his retirement from the British Museum, Boulenger studied roses and published 34 papers on botanical subjects and two volumes on the roses of Europe. He died in Saint Malo, France.
According to biographical accounts, he was incredibly methodical and had an amazing memory that enabled him to remember every specimen and scientific name he ever saw. He also had extraordinary powers of writing and seldom made a second draft of anything he wrote and his manuscripts showed but few corrections before going to the publisher.
Boulenger, George Albert. 1895. "Abstract of a report on a large collection of fishes formed by Dr. C. Ternetz in Matto Grosso and Paraguay, with descriptions of new species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1895(pt 3):523-529 (crc01389)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1896. "Description of new fishes from the upper Congo". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Series 6)17(100):309-311 (crc01803)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1896. "Descriptions of new fishes from the Upper Shiré River, British Central Africa, collected by Dr. Percy Rendall, and presented to the British Museum by Sir Harry H. Johnston, K. C. B.". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 915-920 (crc00714)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1896. "Liste des poissons recueillis par le R. P. Louis Jalla à Kazungula, haut Zambèse". Boll. Mus. Zool. Anat. Comp. Torino. 11(260)1-2 (crc01421)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1896. "On a Collection of Fishes from the Rio Paraguay". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 14(2):25-39 (crc03643)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1897. "Description of a new fish from Lake Nyassa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Series 6):155 (crc00125)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1897. "Descriptions of new fishes from the upper Congo II". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser6):20:119:422-427 (crc01179)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1897. "On a collection of fishes from the island of Marajo, Brazil". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Series 6)20(117):294-299 (crc01653)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1898. "A revision of the African and Syrian fishes of the family Cichlidae.--Part I". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1898, Part II:132-152 (crc00716)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1898. "Matériaux pour la faune du Congo. Poissons nouveaux du Congo. Premiere Partie. Mormyrids". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. 1(1):1-20 (crc01920)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1898. "Report on the collection of Fishes made by Mr. J.E.S. Moore in Tanganyika during his Expedition 1895-1896". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 15(1):1-38 (crc00231)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1898. "Report on the fishes recently obtained by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lake Tanganyika". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 3:494-497 (crc00006)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1899. "A revision of the African and Syrian fishes of the family Cichlidae. Part II". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 98-143(1-47): (crc00051)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1899. "Matériaux pour la faune du Congo. Poissons nouveaux du Congo. Cinquième Partie. Cyprins, Silures, Cyprinodontes, Acanthoptérygiens". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. Zoologique 1:122 (crc00130)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1899. "Matériaux pour la faune du Congo. Poissons nouveaux du Congo. Troisième Partie. Silures, Acanthoptérygiens, Mastacembles, Plectognathes". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. 39-58 (crc00978)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1899. "Second contribution to the ichthyology of Lake Tanganyika - On the fishes obtained by the Congo Free State Expedition under Lieut. Lemaire in 1898". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 15(4):87–96 (crc00043)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1899. "Viaggio del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Ecuador e regioni vicine. Poissons de l'Équateur". Bolletino del Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della R. Università di Torino. 14(335):1-8 (crc00345)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1900. "Matériaux pour la faune du Congo. Poissons nouveaux du Congo. Sixième Partie. Mormyres, Characins, Cyprins, Silures, Acanthoptérygiens, Dipneustes". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. 1;(6):129-164 (crc01392)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "Description of a new fish of the family Cichlidae from the French Congo". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]8:114-116 (crc00230)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "Diagnoses of four new fishes discovered by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lakes Albert and Albert Edward". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8[Series 7]12-14 (crc01004)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in lakes Tanganyika and Kivu". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]1-6 (crc00034)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "Les Poissons du Bassin du Congo - Cichlidae". Publication de l'Etat Indépendant du Congo. 390-488 (crc03496) (abstract)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "On the fishes collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in the Niger Delta". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1:4-10 (crc00039)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1901. "Third Contribution to the Ichthyology of Lake Tanganyika.—Beport on the Collection of Fishes made hy Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu during his Second Expedition, 1899-1900.". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 16(3):137-160 (crc03644)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1902. "Additions à la faune ichthyologique de bassin du Congo. Matériaux pour la faune du Congo". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. 2(2):19-57 (crc03788)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1902. "Contributions to the ichthyology of the Congo. II. On a collection of fishes from the Lindi River". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1:265-271 (crc00131)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1902. "Contributions to the ichthyology of the Congo.-I. On some new fishes from the French Congo". Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 1(2):234-237, Pls22-24 (crc03839)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1902. "Diagnoses of new cichlid fishes discovered by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lake Nyassa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]69-71 (crc00067)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1902. "List of the fishes collected by Mr. W. L. S. Loat at Gondokoro". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]10:260-264 (crc01452)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1903. "Descriptions of new freshwater fishes from southern Cameroon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]12:435-441 (crc00336)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1903. "Second account of the fishes collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in the Niger Delta". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1902(2):324-330 (crc00726)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1905. "Description of a new fish of the genus Paratilapia, from the Upper Zambesi". Annals of the South African Museum. 3:t7:8:301-302 (crc01170)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1905. "On a collection of fishes from Lake Bangwelo". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]:642-647 (crc01397)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1905. "On a small collection of fishes from the Kasai river (Congo)". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]:. 640-642 (crc01466)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1906. "Descriptions of new fishes discovered by Mr E. Degen in Lake Victoria". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (ser7)17:433-452 (crc00190)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1906. "Fourth Contribution to the Ichthyology of Lake Tanganyika - Report on the collection of fishes made by Dr. W. A. Cunnington during the third Tanganyika Expedition, 1904-1905". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. [17, Part 6](1):537-619. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1905.tb000 (crc00004)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1907. "Description of a new cichlid fish from Portuguese East Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Series 7)20(115):50 (crc01647)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1907. "Descriptions of two new freshwater fishes discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Mossamedes, Angola". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]20:116:108-109 (crc01008)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1907. "The Fishes of the Nile". Zoology of Egypt; London. 2 s:1-578, PlsA-F, I-XCII (crc01859)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1908. "Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Capt. E. L. Rhoades in Lake Nyassa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8)238-243 (crc00068)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1908. "Diagnoses of new fishes from the Upper Zambesi". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8):2:12:492-495 (crc01169)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1908. "On a small collection of reptiles, batrachians, and fishes made by Dr. E. Bayon in Uganda". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia naturale di Genova. (Ser3)4, 44:5-7 (crc01035)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1909. "On a second collection of reptiles, batrachians, and fishes made by Dr. E. Bayon in Uganda". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia naturale di Genova. (Ser3a)4:44:302-307 (crc01036)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1910. "On a large collection of fishes made by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in the Quanza and Bengo rivers, Angola". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6(Series 8)(36):537-561 (crc04906)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "Description of a new cichlid fish from Mashonaland". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 7(Ser8)p377 (crc00951)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "Descriptions of new freshwater fishes discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Portuguese Guinea". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8)7:40:373-376 (crc01012)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "Descriptions of three new freshwater fishes discovered by Mr. G. L. Bates in South Cameroon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8(Ser8)372-373 (crc00308) (abstract)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "Further descriptions of new freshwater fishes discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Portuguese Guinea". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8(Ser8)56-57 (crc00229)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "On a collection of fishes from the Lake Ngami Basin, Bechuanaland". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 399-431 (crc01410)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1911. "On a third collection of fishes made by Dr. E. Bayon in Uganda, 1909-1910. (Collezioni zoologiche fatte nell'Uganda dal Dott. E. Bayon. XII.)". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia naturale di Genova. 45 Ser3 5:64-78 (crc00317)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1912. "Description of a new cichlid fish from the Lower Niger". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8)10:56:263 (crc01019)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1912. "Description of a new fish from British East Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8)9:53:519-521 (crc01184)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1912. "Descriptions of three new African cichlid fishes of the genus Tilapia, preserved in the British Museum". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Series 8)10(55):138-140 (crc01654)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1912. "On a collection of fishes made by Mr. A. Blayney Percival in British East Africa to the East of Lake Baringo". Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 82(3):672-676. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1912.tb07548.x (crc01659)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1913. "Description d'un poisson nouveau recueilli à Luluabourg (Congo Belge)". Revue de Zoologie et Botanique Africaines. 2(1912-13):394-395 (crc01463)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1913. "Descriptions of five new cichlid fishes from Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser8)12:71:482-485 (crc01009)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1913. "Descriptions of four new fishes discovered by Mr. G. L. Bates in the Nyong River, Southern Cameroon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 12(Ser8)67-70 (crc00338)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1914. "Mission Stappers au Tanganyika-Moero. Diagnoses de poissons nouveaux. I. Acanthoptérygiens, Opisthomes, Cyprinodontes". Revue de Zoologie et Botanique Africaines. 442-447 (crc00153)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1914. "Unterordnung: Acanthopterygii. Fam. Cichlidae". Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Afrika-Expedition 1907-1908, Zoologie. Band 5:253-259 (crc00952)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1915. "Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History)". Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London. III:i-xii + 1-526 (crc00038)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1915. "Catalogue of the Fresh-water Fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History). - Lobochilotes". Catalogue of the Freshwater Fishes of Africa. III:280-281 (crc03462) (abstract)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1915. "Descriptions of new freshwater fishes from Sierra Leone". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (8)15:202-204 (crc00008)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1916. "Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History).". Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London. I:i-xxvii:1-392 (crc03476) (abstract)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1916. "On specimens of the perciform fish Tilapia nilotica with increased number of anal spines". Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 86(2):345-347. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1916.tb02017.x (crc01626)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1919. "On a collection of fishes from Lake Tanganyika, with descriptions of three new species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 89(1-2):17-20 (crc00235)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1920. "On some new fishes from near the west coast of Lake Tanganyika". Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 1919(pts 3-4):399-404 (crc01799)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1920. "Poissons de la mission Stappers 1911-13 pour l'exploration hydrographique et biologique des lacs Tanganika et Moero". Revue de Zoologie Africaines. 8(1):1-57 (crc02961)
Boulenger, George Albert. 1920. "Poissons recueillis au Congo Belge par l'expedition du Dr. C. Christy". Annales du Musée du Congo Belge. 2(ser.1)(4):1-38, plsXXIII-XX (crc03488)