Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure (; ; 27 November 1829 – 20 February 1905) was a Swiss

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 ...

and entomologist specialising in studies of Hymenoptera and Orthopteroid insects. He also was a prolific

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are give ...

Biography

Saussure's elementary education was at Alphonse Briquet's then, as an adolescent, at the Hofwyl school run by

Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg (27 June 1771 – 21 November 1844) was a Swiss educationalist and agronomist. Biography He was born at Bern. His father was of patrician family, and a man of importance in his canton, and his mother was a granddaug ...

. At the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

he was taught by François Jules Pictet de la Rive, who introduced him to entomology. After several years of study 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 ...

he received the degree of licentiate of the Faculty of Paris and obtained the degree of Doctor from the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

. He worked mainly on Hymenoptera and Orthoptera. His first paper, in 1852, was on solitary wasps. In 1854 he traveled to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, then to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. There he met Louis Agassiz. He returned to Switzerland in 1856 with collections of American insects,

myriapods Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian, ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s, birds and

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

. Also interested in

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

, he co-founded the Geographical Society of Geneva in 1858. He was also a member of the managing committee of the Natural History Museum of Geneva, ensuring that its collections of Hymenoptera and Orthoptera became one of the best in the world. In 1872 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

. In 1873, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. He had nine children including the famous linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857), who was his eldest son; Horace (c 1859); Albertine Adèle (1861), named for Henri's aunt and sister-in-law; Elisabeth "Dora" Théodora (1863); Léopold (1866); René de Saussure (1868); Jeanne (c 1869); Louis Octave (1871); and Maximilien (1873).

Works

Hymenoptera

*
Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 1. Monographie des Guêpes solitaires, ou de la Tribu des Euméniens
comprenant la Classification et la Description de toutes les Espèces connues jusqu'à ce Jour, et servant de complément au Manuel de Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–128 pls ii-v, vii, x, xiv (1852). *Note sur la tribu des Masariens et principalement sur le Masaris vespiformis. ''Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr.'' (3)1: xvii-xxi (1853). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 2. Monographie des Guêpes Sociales, ou de la Tribu des Vespiens, ouvrage faisant suite à la Monographies des Guêpes Solitaires''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–96 pls 2-8, 13 (1853). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–48 pls i-v (1854). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 2. Monographie des Guêpes Sociales, ou de la Tribu des Vespiens, ouvrage faisant suite à la Monographies des Guêpes Solitaires.'' Paris : Masson pp. 97–256 pls 9-12, 14-18, 20-24, 27-33 (1854). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens. Paris'' : Masson pp. 49–288 pls vi-xiv (1855). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens.'' Paris : Masson pp. 289–352 pls xv-xvi (1856). -Mélanges hyménoptérologiques. Extrait du Tome XIV des "mémoires de la Société de Physique etc. Genève, Cherbuliez, Paris, Masson. 1854. *Mélanges hyménoptérologiques. ''Mém. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 17: 171-244 (1863). *Hymenoptera. In, ''Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 den unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair.'' Zoologischer Theil. Wien : K-K Hof- und Staatsdrückerei Vol. 2(1a). 138 pp. (1867).

Orthoptera

*Revue et Magasin de Zoologie. 2(13):128 (1861) *Essai d'un système des Mantides. ''Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges.'' 3: 49-73 (1869). *Additions au système des Mantides. ''Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges.'' 3: 221-244 (1870). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 3. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 1-214 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 3. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 1-214 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Supplément au IIIme Fascicule. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 239-336 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 4. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 23: 1-160 (1872). *with Auguste Bormans, comte de, Lawrence Bruner; Frederick Du Cane Godman,

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume ency ...

, Albert P Morse, Alphonse Pictet, Robert Walter, Campbell Shelford, Leo Zehntner ''Biologia centrali-americana. Insecta. Orthoptera'' London, Published for the editors by R.H. Porter 1893-1909. *Saussure, H. de & Zehntner, L. ''Histoire naturelle des Blattides et Mantides''. pp. 147–244 in *Grandidier. A. (ed.) ''Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Paris : Librairie Hachette et Cie Vol. 23 Orthoptères (1895).

Notes

References

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External links

Henri de Saussure at Open Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saussure, Henri Swiss entomologists Swiss mineralogists University of Paris alumni University of Giessen alumni Hymenopterists Myriapodologists 1829 births 1905 deaths Henri