Ferdinand Victor Alphons Prosch

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Ferdinand Victor Alphons Prosch

|birth_date = {{birth date|1820|11|25}}

|birth_place = Copenhagen

|death_date = {{death date and age|1885|7|12|1820|11|25}}

|death_place = Copenhagen

|residence =

|citizenship = Danish

|nationality = Danish

|ethnicity =

|field = Doctor, Veterinarian, zoologist

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|author_abbrev_zoo = Prosch

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Ferdinand Victor Alphons Prosch (November 25, 1820 in Copenhagen – July 29, 1885) was a Danish medical doctor, veterinarian and biologist.{{cite web | url = http://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=fvaprosch | title = F V A Prosch | accessdate = 26 November 2016 | publisher = gravsted.dk}}

Prosch's father, Johannes Henrik William Prosch (died 1843) was a secretary in the Danish War Chancery and his mother, Caroline Sophie (née Brement) was French. In 1837 Prosch was a student at the Metropolitan School in Copenhagen and by 1843 he had taken his medical exams. Between 1843 and 1846 Prosch was employed by the university as a prosector, i.e. a preparer of specimens for dissection in the university's Zoological museum.

In 1847 he joined the Flaaden as the ship's doctor on a voyage to Madeira. Guinea, Venezuela and the Caribbean. In 1848 he was the ship's doctor on the frigate Havfrue ("Mermaid") in the First Schleswig War. After the war practiced as a doctor in Copenhagen and was a teacher of natural history, in which capacity he published the book "Lærer i Naturhistorie, i hvilken Egenskabin" 1851, which at the time was widely used as a school textbook. He dealt equally diligently with the study of natural history, comparative anatomy and physiology. His scientific reputation was such that in 1852 he gained a teaching post in hygiene studies at Veterinary and Agricultural University, where in 1858 he was appointed associate professor of Dietetics and Animal Husbandry, being promoted to professor a year later. he made several journeys abroad to study German and English breeds of farm animals and he was to have a significant impact on Danish agriculture in the late 19th century. He was the author and co-author of many text books, articles and papers on animal health and wellbeing. He was a Knight of the Danneborg, a Danish honour similar to the Order of the British Empire.