Alphonse Péron (29 November 1834 – 2 April 1908) was a French soldier and amateur naturalist. He used his spare time to pursue his interest in paleontology, and authored or coauthored several important works on the geology and paleontology of France and Algeria.

Life

Pierre-Alphonse Péron was born on 29 November 1834 in

Saint-Fargeau Saint-Fargeau is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, in the historical region of Puisaye. Main sights * Saint-Ferréol church, built in Gothic style in the 14th and 15th centuries. Notable bur ...

, Yonne. He attended the Collège d’Auxerre for his secondary education, then in 1853 entered the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

. After graduating in 1855 he was posted to a series of different garrisons. He was assigned to Corsica in 1860, and later transferred to Algeria. In both places he was able to pursue his growing interest in geology, which absorbed much of his spare time for the rest of his life. In 1867 he was promoted to captain. During the Franco-Prussian War Péron was seriously wounded at the Battle of Sedan in September 1870. After recovering he was posted to Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne, from 1871 to 1875. He was promoted to sub-intendant in 1875 and moved in turn to

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

(Marne), Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Joigny (Yonne),

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

(Aube) and then in 1883 to

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

(Cher). He was sub-intendent from 1875 to 1890, then military intendent from 1890 to 1896. Alphonse Péron died on 2 April 1908 in Auxerre, Yonne, aged 73.

Geology and paleontology

Péron's interest in geology and paleontology was kindled by fossils that he observed in Corsica in 1860. In Algeria he studied the geology around Aumale ( Sour El-Ghozlane) and the Kabylie. In 1873 Péron contributed to the geological study of Tarn-et-Garonne. He went on to make observations of the Late Cretaceous formations of

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. Péron joined the first rank of gifted amateur geologists in France in the second half of the 19th century, others being Édouard de Verneuil,

Gustave Cotteau Gustave Honoré Cotteau (7 December 1818, Auxerre – 10 August 1894, Paris) was a French judge, naturalist and paleontologist. Biography He was educated in classical studies at the college in Auxerre, then studied law in Paris. He earned his ...

Antoine Passy Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin '' Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Gui ...

Gustave Dollfus Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

and Auguste Viquesnel^{( de)}. Péron collaborated with

Victor-Auguste Gauthier Victor-Auguste Gauthier (5 March 1837 – 20 February 1911) was a French school teacher and amateur palaeontologist. He specialized in the study of fossilized sea urchins, contributing meticulous descriptions of many fossils found in southern Fran ...

in writing the ''Description des Echinides fossiles de l'Algérie'' under the direction of Gustave Cotteau. This was a significant work, of which the first two chapters were published in the ''Annales des Sciences géologiques'' (1873) and in the ''Bibliothèque des Hautes études'' (1875). They were subsequently revised in 1883–84 to form part of the first volume of this great work. From 1873 to 1891 Gauthier worked constantly on the descriptions of the Algerian fossil

Echinidae Echinidae is a family of sea urchins in the order Echinoida. Members of the family are found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic.Algiers Province by Ludovic Ville was ready for the Exposition Universelle of 1867, as was the map of Oran Province, and

Jules Tissot Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name * Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer * Jules Abadie (1876–1 ...

's map of Constantine Province was exhibited at Vienna in 1873. New versions of the maps were presented at the Exposition Universelle of 1878. The idea of a general geological map of Algeria was floated in 1881, when the Association française pour l'avancement des sciences met in Algiers. Péron's 202-page ''Essai d'une description géologique de l'Algérie'' (1883) was thus the culmination of thirty years of work. In 1902 the Ministry of Education proposed that

Georges Rolland Georges Rolland (23 January 1852 – 25 July 1910) was a French geologist and industrialist, a member of the Corps des mines, who worked in Algeria in the 1880s. He made important discoveries about the underground hydrology of the Sahara. He was ...

should write up the results of the Tunisian Scientific Exploration Mission (1885–86), but he refused for health reasons. The task was given to

Philippe Thomas Philippe Thomas (4 May 1843 – 12 February 1910) was a French veterinarian and amateur geologist who discovered large deposits of phosphates in Tunisia. Despite the huge economic importance of his discovery, he received little recognition during ...

, who was now in retirement. He wrote the ''Essai d'une description géologique de la Tunisie'' with the support of Jean Albert Gaudry, Alphonse Péron and Paul Bursaux, technical director of the Compagnie des phosphates de Gafsa. The first part, an ''Overview of physical geography'', was published in 1907. The second part, ''Stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic terrains'', was published in 1908. Péron was President of the Société géologique de France (SGF) in 1905.

Publications

Publications by Alphonse Péron included: * * * * * * * * * * * * *''Études paléontologiques sur les terrains du département de l'Yonne'' (Paleontological Studies of the Formations of the Yonne Department.) ** ** ** * * *

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peron, Alphonse 1834 births 1908 deaths People from Saint-Fargeau French geologists French paleontologists French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Commanders of the Legion of Honour