Herbert R. Axelrod

Lore & Background

Axelrod wrote his seminal book The Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes while serving in an Army MASH unit in Korea. After returning, he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics education at New York University and founded the magazine Tropical Fish Hobbyist, which led to TFH Publications. The New York Times noted that in an era before web forums and Google, collectors turned to his magazine and books. In 1956, the cardinal tetra was named Paracheirodon axelrodi in his honor, though Axelrod claimed he discovered the fish himself during a steamboat trip on the Rio Negro, while it had actually been discovered in Brazil in 1953 by Harald Sioli. He donated his fossil fish collection to the University of Guelph in 1989, leading to the naming of the Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology. He also assembled a large collection of rare stringed instruments, including the Hellier Stradivarius, and donated four Stradivari instruments to the Smithsonian Institution in 1998.

Reader's Guide

Axelrod's significance in fishkeeping stems from his prolific publishing and the widespread influence of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine and his dozens of books, which served as primary resources before the internet. His name is immortalized in over a dozen fish species, including the cardinal tetra and the black neon tetra. However, his legacy is complicated by legal troubles: he was convicted of tax fraud in 2005 for funneling millions into Swiss bank accounts, fled to Cuba, was arrested in Berlin, and served 18 months in prison. Additionally, questions arose about the authenticity and value of the stringed instruments he donated and sold, with experts determining they were not the instruments he represented them as. Despite this, the Smithsonian named him Donor of the Year in 1999, and the University of Guelph named an institute after him, though a lecture hall originally named the Axelrod Building was later renamed the Alexander Building.

Did You Know?

• The cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi) was named after him, though he falsely claimed to have discovered it.
• He donated four Stradivari instruments to the Smithsonian Institution, valued at $50 million.
• He fled to Cuba to avoid arraignment for tax fraud and was arrested in Berlin in 2004.