Harry M. Wegeforth

Harry Milton Wegeforth, born Harry Milton Wegefarth on 7 January 1882, was an American physician who died on 25 June 1941. He ran a thriving medical practice in San Diego, served briefly as president of the City Board of Health, worked as a surgeon for the San Diego and Arizona Railway and established a hospital and clinic in the downtown district. He is best remembered for founding the Zoological Society of San Diego in 1916 and the San Diego Zoo, which grew out of the Panama-California Exposition. A heart attack in 1931 ended his medical practice, after which he traveled the world collecting and trading animals for the zoo. An amphitheatre at the zoo and a school in Serra Mesa carry his name.