Frederick Chapman

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For the American baseball player (1872–1957), see Fred Chapman

Frederick Chapman (13 February 1864 – 10 December 1943) was an English-born Australian Palaeontologist.

Chapman was born in Camden Town, London and studied at Royal College of Science, London where he was initially an assistant to John Wesley Judd. Chapman qualified as a teacher of geology and physiography at the college and was encouraged by Judd's study of boring samples from around London. He went on to become a world authority on Foraminifera.

Chapman was Palaeontologist to the National Museum, Melbourne, Australia from 1902-27 and served as the first Australian Commonwealth Palaeontologist 1927-35, where Irene Crespin was his assistant and later succeded him.

Chapman was awarded the Lyell Prize for research by the Geological Society of London in 1899; the David Syme research prize of the University of Melbourne in 1920; the Lyell Medal, Geological Society, London 1930; the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1932; the Australian Natural History Medallion by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria in 1941. He was president of the Royal Society of Victoria 1929-30.