Günter E. W. Schmidt (born 10 May 1926 in Lübeck; died 23 December 2016 in Deutsch Evern)[1] was a German arachnologist and author of a standard German work on tarantulas, Die Vogelspinnen ("bird-eating spiders").

[2] He studied biology and mostly worked in the pharmaceutical industry until his retirement.

[citation needed][3] In 1975, he graduated with a PhD thesis on the arachnid fauna of the Canary Islands [3].

[citation needed] From 1986, his scientific work was concentrated mainly on tarantulas.

The World Spider Catalog lists 234 species names of which he is the author or co-author (not all currently accepted),[4] of which 69 are in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas).