Psyllid Genus Swezeyana Otto Herman Swezey

People have asked me "who was the most famous Swezey that ever lived?"

I think the answer would be Otto Herman Swezey (1869-1959).

He was an entomologist (studied insects) especially in Hawaii.

Otto identified a number of previously unknown bugs in Hawaii.

One was named after him - "psyllid genus Swezeyana".

How cool is that? - to have a family "bug" :-)

Otto Herman Swezey - Wikipedia

Otto Herman Swezey - WikiTree


During WWII my Dad was in the navy and his ship was in Hawaii for a time and he said he looked for Swezeys in the telephone book and found Otto. He said Otto was very nice to him and was a dead ringer for his Dad when they met.

We share a common ancestor, John Swezey (1619-1692), who came to America, from England in 1629, with his Dad, John Swezey (bef:1584-1675) from whom ALL Swezeys are evidently descended.

I remember as a kid, Otto sent us a bunch of rocks and shells and lava samples from Hawaii as a gift. (Better than dead bugs I guess :-)

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