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March 21, 1908 – Iowa City’s Otto Kuntze – one of America’s best-known mineral collector and dealer – dies suddenly at age 41.
Otto Kuntze – one of America’s best-known mineral collector and dealer – was born in Nordhausen, Germany in 1867, held a degree of Doctor of Philosophy from one of the leading German universities, and was trained as both a geologist and a chemist. Records are a bit unclear, but it appears that Kuntze came to America in the mid-1890’s, settling in Iowa City around 1896/1897 – where he opened a drug store. In those days, there were several very successful family drug store/pharmacies in Iowa City – so, before long, Kuntze decided to put that aside and follow his truest passion – geology and mineralogy. Over the next decade, Kuntze became known as America’s finest mineralogist.
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