Louis Marie-Auguste Boutan (6 March 1859 – 6 April 1934) was a French biologist and photographer. He was a pioneer in the field of underwater photography.
Biography
The son of , he was born in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
and studied biology and natural history at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
. In 1880, he was named deputy head assigned to organize the French exhibit at the
Melbourne International Exhibition (1880)
The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere.
Preparations
After being granted self-go ...
. He stayed in Australia for 18 months, travelling the continent and identifying new animal species. In 1886, Boutan was named
maître de conférences
''Maître'' (spelled ''Maitre'' according to post-1990 spelling rules) is a commonly used honorific for lawyers, judicial officers and notaries in France, Belgium, Switzerland and French-speaking parts of Canada. It is often written in its abbrev ...
at the
University of Lille
The University of Lille (french: Université de Lille, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the m ...
. In the same year, he learned how to dive. In 1893, he was named professor at the
Laboratoire Arago. During that year, with his brother , he developed equipment for underwater photography. In an article in
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine
''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...
, he described his apparatus; the article included an illustration of one of his cameras and several underwater images. Boutan developed a
flash bulb
A flash is a device used in photography that produces a brief burst of light (typically lasting 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a ...
that could be used underwater. He later used carbon
arc lights for illumination.
[
In 1898, he published the first book on underwater photography ''La Photographie sous-marine et les progrès de la photographie''. Slides of his underwater photographs were shown at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in ]Paris
Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.[
In 1904, he was sent to ]Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
to investigate improvements to rice and the culture of pearl oysters
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
. He returned to France in 1908. In 1910, he was named professor of zoology and animal physiology at the University of Bordeaux
The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...
. In 1914 and 1916, Boutan and his brother worked on a diving suit for the French army. After the war, he began research into the artificial production of pearls, one of the first people to investigate this subject. In 1921, he was named director of the Station Biologique d'Arcachon
Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for inv ...
. In 1924, he was named to the chair of general zoology of the faculty of science at the University of Algiers
The University of Algiers (Arabic language, Arabic:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a public university, public research university located in Algiers, Algeria. It is the ...
; he was also named director of the Station d’Aquaculture et de Pêches de Castiglione and inspector for the Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
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, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
n fisheries.[
In 1929, he retired to ]Tigzirt
Tigzirt, the classical Iomnium, is a small town on the coast of northeast Algeria in Tizi Ouzou Province. It has a sleepy demeanor and attracts many tourists especially in summer from all over the country.
Name
Tigzirt's name derives from the ...
in Algeria. He died there at the age of 75.
Boutan was named to the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHF) is an annual event that recognizes those who have contributed to the success and growth of recreational scuba diving in dive travel, entertainment, art, equipment design and development, educa ...
as an early pioneer in 2010.
Taxon named in his honor
The fish Boutan's whiting ''Sillago boutani'' Pellegrin, 1905 is named after him.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boutan, Louis
1859 births
1934 deaths
University of Paris alumni
Academic staff of the University of Bordeaux
Academic staff of the University of Algiers
Academic staff of the Lille University of Science and Technology
French marine biologists
French photographers
Pioneers of photography
Underwater photography