Louis Jérôme Reiche (20 December 1799, Gorinchem, Netherlands – 16 May 1890,

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

), was a French

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, manufacturer and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. Reiche travelled widely in Europe making a large insect collection principally of

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

. He wrote 65 scientific papers and was a founder of the

Société entomologique de France The Société entomologique de France, or French Entomological Society, is devoted to the study of insects. The society was founded in 1832 in Paris, France. The society was created by eighteen Parisian entomologists on 31 January 1832. The first ...

becoming president on six occasions. Reiche was a merchant and manufacturer in Paris but suffered from severe losses at the time of the war of 1870, and had to sell his collection and library.

Sources

* Edward Oliver Essig (1931). A History of Entomology. Mac Millan (New York) : vii + 1029 p. *Jean Gouillard (2004). Histoire des entomologistes français, 1750–1950. Édition entièrement revue et augmentée. Boubée (Paris) : 287 p. 1799 births 1890 deaths French entomologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France People from Gorinchem Businesspeople from Gorinchem {{entomologist-stub