Jean Théodore Lacordaire (; 1 February 1801 – 18 July 1870) was a Belgian

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

of French extraction.

Biography

In spite of his obvious interest in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, Lacordaire's family sent him to

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

to study "le droit", or the law. In 1824, he embarked for

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

where he became a commercial salesman. He traveled widely in South America using every opportunity to carry out many observations on local

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

suggested he come to Paris in 1830. There he met

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

, Jean Victoire Audouin, and

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the National Museum of Natural History (France), Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became pr ...

and took part in the foundation of the Société Entomologique de France. He went to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

at the end of 1830 to collect natural history specimens, returning to France in 1832. In 1835, he became professor of zoology at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

where he succeeded Henri-Maurice Gaède (1795–1834). In 1837, he became also professor of

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

. He occupied himself actively with the collections of zoology of the natural history museum of the university from his nomination and greatly enriched it. On his death, the natural history museum included a collection of 12,000 species, with beautiful series of

ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

. From 1834 to 1838, he published ''Introduction à l'entomologie, comprenant les principes généraux de l'anatomie et de la physiologie des insectes, (Introduction to entomology, including the general principles of the anatomy and the physiology of the insects)'' in three volumes. In 1835, he published ''Faune entomologique des environs de Paris (Entomological fauna of the district surrounding of Paris)''. But his best work is ''Histoire naturelle des insectes, ″Genera″ des Coléoptères'' (1854–1876), an immense work of 13 volumes which his death brought to a close. This work was eventually finished by

Félicien Chapuis Félicien Chapuis (29 April 1824 – 30 September 1879) was a Belgium, Belgian Physician, doctor and entomologist. He specialised in Coleoptera and finished the text of ''Genera des coléoptères'' by Jean Théodore Lacordaire, Théodore Lacordai ...

. Lacordaire was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1856. In 1868, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. One of his three brothers,

Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, OP (; 12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French Catholic priest, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in ...

, was a Dominican priest and an important liberal Catholic polemicist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacordaire, Jean Theodore 1801 births 1870 deaths People from Côte-d'Or 19th-century Belgian biologists Belgian entomologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences International members of the American Philosophical Society