Augustin Alexis Damour (19 July 1808, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

– 22 September 1902, in Paris) was a French

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

who was also interested in

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

Biography

In 1827 he studied under Alexandre Brongniart at the

Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris, and up until 1854, worked for the Ministère des affaires étrangères. Afterwards, he devoted himself to mineralogical research, achieving fame for his research involving the chemical composition of many different minerals.The Mineralogical Record
Augustin Alexis Damour Collection (biography)Prosopo
Sociétés savantes de France In addition to his solo analyses of various minerals, with Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, he studied obsidian under high temperatures, and with

Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville (11 March 18181 July 1881) was a French chemist. He was born in the island of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies, where his father was French consul. Together with his elder brother Charles he was educate ...

, he investigated the nature of

columbite Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate [], is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium. It has a submetallic Lustre (mineralogy), luster and a high density and is a niobate of iron and manganese. This mineral group ...

. Also, he is credited with the discovery of numerous new mineral species;

faujasite Faujasite (FAU-type zeolite) is a mineral group in the zeolite family of silicate minerals. The group consists of faujasite-Na, faujasite-Mg and faujasite-Ca. They all share the same basic formula by varying the amounts of sodium, magnesium and ...

bertrandite Bertrandite is a beryllium sorosilicate hydroxide mineral with composition: Be4Si2O7(OH)2. Bertrandite is a colorless to pale yellow orthorhombic mineral with a hardness of 6-7. It is commonly found in beryllium rich pegmatites and is in part an ...

jacobsite Jacobsite is a manganese iron oxide mineral. It is in the spinel group and forms a solid solution series with magnetite. The chemical formula is (Mn,Mg)Fe2O4 or with oxidation states and substitutions: (Mn2+,Fe2+,Mg)(Fe3+,Mn3+)2O4.

and alluaudite, to name a few. In 1854 he named the mineral

descloizite Descloizite is a rare mineral species consisting of basic lead and zinc vanadate, , crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system and isomorphous with olivenite. Appreciable gallium and germanium may also be incorporated into the crystal struc ...

in honor of Alfred Des Cloizeaux. In 1845

Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse (3 February 181724 March 1881) was a French geologist and mineralogist. He is credited for inventing the Delesse principle in stereology. Education and career Delesse was born at Metz. At the age of twenty ...

named a variety of

muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...

, "damourite", in his honor.Mindat.org
Damourite In 1857 he was appointed president of the

Société géologique de France Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

, and in 1881, by way of a recommendation from Wolfgang Franz von Kobell, he became a member of the

Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

. His collections are held by the Muséum de Toulouse.

Gallery

Image:Damourite.jpg, Damourite - Kårarvet, Suède Damour collection MHNT Image:Hache Carcassonne Global Fond.jpg, Polished

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

axe Damour collection MHNT Image:Diorite-Reims-Damour 2.jpg, Polished Neolithic axe Damour collection MHNT Image:Hache 221.1 Prespective.fond.JPG, Neolithic axe Damour collection MHNT

References

Biographie de Alexis Damour sur le site de la Société Géologique de France
par Jean Gaudant.

External links

IDREF.fr
Bibliographical works by Augustin Alexis Damour. Prehistorians French geologists French mineralogists 1808 births 1902 deaths Scientists from Paris {{Archaeologist-stub