Louis François Élisabeth Ramond, baron de Carbonnières (4 January 1755

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

– 14 May 1827), was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. He is regarded as one of the first explorers of the high mountains of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

who can be described as a '' pyreneist''.

Life

Louis Ramond was born in

, to Pierre-Bernard Ramond (1715–1796), treasurer of war, and Rosalie-Reine Eisentrand (1732–1762). He studied law at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

in 1775 and became a lawyer in February 1777. In Strasbourg he became friends with another student,

Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (23 January 1751, or 12 January in the Julian calendar – 4 June 1792, or 24 May in the Julian calendar) was a Baltic German writer of the ''Sturm und Drang'' movement. Life Lenz was born in Sesswegen (Cesvaine), ...

(1751–1792), a writer belonging to the then-fashionable ''

Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

'' movement. During this period Ramond discovered German Romantic literature, in particular

Goethe's Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German people, German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, politician, statesman, theatre director, and critic. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe bibliography, His works include pla ...

The Sorrows of Young Werther ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (; german: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the ''Sturm ...

''; this book inspired him to become a writer and in 1777 he published the ''Werther''-influenced ''Les Dernières aventures du jeune d’Olban'' (''The Last Adventures of Young Olban''). Ramond undertook a voyage to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in May 1777 where he met writers and poets, as well as scientists: the

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Johann Kaspar Lavater Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater (; 15 November 1741 – 2 January 1801) was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian. Early life Lavater was born in Zürich, and was educated at the '' Gymnasium'' there, where J. J. ...

(1741–1801), and the zoologists

Albrecht von Haller Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave, he is often referred to as "the fa ...

(1708–1777) and

Charles Bonnet Charles Bonnet (; 13 March 1720 – 20 May 1793) was a Genevan naturalist and philosophical writer. He is responsible for coining the term ''phyllotaxis'' to describe the arrangement of leaves on a plant. He was among the first to notice parthe ...

(1720–1793); he also came across his friend Lenz there. The two men shared what was by all accounts an ecstatic experience contemplating the valley of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

. Ramond also caught the passion for high mountains. A few days later, Lenz suffered his first bout of insanity. In 1778, Ramond published ''Élégies'', impressions inspired by his love for nature. Extracts from this work were published the same year in the ''Journal de Dames'' of Claude-Joseph Dorat (1734–1780). In 1779, Ramond and his father settled in Paris. In 1780, Ramond published ''La Guerre d’Alsace pendant le Grand Schisme d’Occident'' (''The War of Alsace during the Great Western Schism''), a romantic and historical epic. But the French capital was not yet ready for German Romanticism and the book was not received as well as he had hoped. Leaving Paris he returned to Strasbourg, where he placed himself at the service of cardinal

Louis René Édouard de Rohan Louis René Édouard de Rohan known as Cardinal de Rohan (25 September 1734 – 16 February 1803), ''prince de Rohan-Guéméné'', was a French Bishop of Strasbourg, politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and cadet of the Rohan f ...

(1734–1803), prince of Rohan-Guemenée and cardinal-archbishop of Strasbourg, celebrated for his role in the

affair of the diamond necklace The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...

. In the company of the prince, Ramond travelled widely and met many of the personalities of the age. The cardinal was sent in exile to

La Chaise-Dieu La Chaise-Dieu (; Auvergnat: ''La Chasa Dieu'') is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Its inhabitants are called ''Casadéens'', from the Latin name of the city. Geography La Chaise-Dieu occupies a 1082 m butte wh ...

in June 1786, and he left for

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

accompanied by his faithful secretary. That summer, the cardinal wished to stay in a thermal town in the Pyrenees and Ramond departed to reconnoitre the area. The two men spent the summer and the autumn of 1787 in

Barèges Barèges (; oc, Varètja, , in the Gascon dialect) is a communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées departments of France, department, administrative regions of France, administrative region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitan ...

. Ramond started to explore the nearby mountains above

Gavarnie Gavarnie (; oc, Gavarnia) is a former commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, Southwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Gavarnie-Gèdre.Maladetta Massif, to get a better acquaintance with their geological formations – these were the subject of a topical controversy, fed in particular by the limestone theories of

Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu Dieudonné Sylvain Guy Tancrède de Gratet de Dolomieu usually known as Déodat de Dolomieu (; 23 June 175028 November 1801) was a French geologist. The mineral and the rock Dolomite (rock), dolomite and the largest summital crater on the Piton d ...

(1750–1801) – and to see whether the mountains were

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

or limestone, which was believed to be older rock. When the cardinal was authorized to return to Strasbourg in December 1788, Ramond settled in Paris, where in 1789 he published his ''Observations faites dans les Pyrénées, pour servir de suite à des observations sur les Alpes'' (''Observations Made in the Pyrenees, To follow some Observations of the Alps''). To improve his knowledge of natural history, he followed the courses of Jussieu (1748–1836) and

René Desfontaines René (''Born again (Christianity), born again'' or ''reborn'' in French language, French) is a common given name, first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is th ...

(1780–1831) in the Jardin des Plantes. He also launched himself into politics, being elected a deputy of Paris in September 1791 and joining the

Club des Feuillants The Society of the Friends of the ConstitutionIt was the original name of the Jacobin Club until his radicalization of Republic's birth. (french: Société des Amis de la Constitution), better known as Feuillants Club ( french: Club des Feuillants ...

. In 1792 he defended the refractory priests whose deportation had been voted for. Ramond passionately supported the action of La Fayette, who tried to temper the over-enthusiasm of the

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

. His life in danger, Ramond decided to flee Paris in August and seek refuge in the Pyrenees. Under surveillance and regarded as suspect, he left for

, where he was able to indulge in his botanizing and mountain observations to his heart's content. He was arrested in 1794 and accused of being an enemy of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. Imprisoned in

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

for seven months, his was a lucky escape from the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. From 1796 he devoted himself exclusively to natural history. He corresponded with Philippe Picot of Lapeyrouse (1744–1818) and various botanists such as René Desfontaines, Jean Thore (1762–1823) and Domenica Villars (1745–1814). From 1796, he taught as professor of natural history at the new Central School of Tarbes, where his courses were an immediate success, and he soon became a specialist in the botany and geology of the central Pyrenees. In 1797, he was finally able to concentrate on a project which had long intrigued him: to reach the top of

Monte Perdido Monte Perdido (in Spanish; Mont Perdu in French; Mont Perdito in Aragonese;all four meaning ''lost mountain'') is the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees. The summit of Monte Perdido (3355 m), located in Spain, lies hidden from France b ...

(3,355 m) to counter the theories of Dolomieu and Lapeyrouse on the 'early era' of the limestone of the central chain. The expedition, which comprised about fifteen people, including Picot of Lapeyrouse and several of Ramond's pupils, found many fossils, but did not reach the top. The account of the expedition appeared in 1797 under the title of ''Voyage au Mont-Perdu et dans la partie adjacente des Hautes-Pyrénées'' (''Voyage to Monte Perdido and the neighbouring parts of the High Pyrenees''). On 7 September the same year, again accompanied by his pupils and

Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel (27 March 1776 – 12 September 1854) was a French botanist and politician. He was a founder of the science of plant cytology. A native Parisian, at the age of twenty, he became an assistant-naturalist with ...

(1776–1854), Ramond made a second attempt. The administrator and forester Étienne-François Dralet (1760–1844) also took part in the expedition. But it was only in 1802 that he reached finally the top. Ramond reported this ascent in the ''Journal de Mines'' (in Thermidor year XI). He corresponded in particular with

René Just Haüy René Just Haüy () FRS MWS FRSE (28 February 1743 – 1 June 1822) was a French priest and mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy after he was made an honorary canon of Notre Dame. Due to his innovative work on crystal structure and hi ...

(1743–1822),

Alexandre Brongniart Alexandre Brongniart (5 February 17707 October 1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil content ...

(1770–1847) and Jean Florimond Boudon de Saint-Mercy (1748–1831). After the Central School of Tarbes closed, he returned to Paris in 1800 as a member of the Constitutional Council. From 1800 to 1806, he worked with the Parliament, as well as taking part in the work of the ''

Société des observateurs de l'homme Société des observateurs de l'homme, rendered in English as Society of Observers of Man, was a French learned society founded in Paris in 1799. Long considered the birthplace of French anthropology, the society nevertheless dissolved in 1804. ...

'' and becoming a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

in January 1802. He married Bonne-Olympe in 1805, widow of General Louis-Nicolas Chérin and the daughter of his friend Bon-Joseph Dacier (1742–1833). As a friend of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, Ramond was named vice-president of the

Corps législatif The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body. History The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a ''corps législatif''. ...

, then in 1806 he became prefect of

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.Conseil d'État and did not leave Paris again except to go to Auvergne. In 1821, he spent the summer in Auvergne with René Desfontaines and two young naturalists,

Victor Jacquemont Venceslas Victor Jacquemont (8 August 1801 – 7 December 1832) was a French botanist and geologist known for his travels in India. Born in Paris on August 8, 1801, Victor Jacquemont was the youngest of four sons of Frédéric François Venceslas ...

(1801–1832) and Count Hippolyte Jaubert (1798–1874). He published finally, in 1825, ''Sur l’état de la végétation au sommet du Pic du Midi'', (''On the Condition of the Vegetation on the Summit of the Pic du Midi''), this being the

Pic du Midi de Bigorre The Pic du Midi de Bigorre or simply the Pic du Midi (elevation ) is a mountain in the French Pyrenees. It is the site of the Pic du Midi Observatory. Pic du Midi Observatory The Pic du Midi Observatory (french: Observatoire du Pic du Mid ...

, not its more shapely

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

. On his death in 1827 Ramond was buried in the cemetery of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

Commemoration

* One

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Pyrenean species, '' Ramonda pyrenaica'' in the family

Gesneriaceae Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Gesnerioideae), with ...

– a remnant of the flora of the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

– was dedicated to him by the botanist

Jean Michel Claude Richard Jean Michel Claude Richard (16 August 1787 – 1868) was a noted French botanist and plant collector active in Senegal, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Réunion, and a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. Richard was born in Volon, Haute-Saône. He was ...

(1787–1868). It grows between an elevation of 1,200 m and 2,500 m in the cracks of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

rocks. There are two other species in the genus '' Ramonda'', '' R. nathaliae'' and '' R. serbica'', both of which are found in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

; the genus is the only one in the Gesneriaceae found outside the tropics or the sub-tropics. * The

Soum de Ramond Soum de Ramond, also known as Pico de Añisclo in Spanish and Aragonese, is a mountain of 3,263 metres in the Monte Perdido massif in the Aragonese Pyrenees in northern Spain. It is one of the three mountains comprising ''Las Tres Sorores'', the ...

(3,263 m) (known in Spanish as Pico Añisclo) in the

massif is named after him. (''See'' photograph above left.) * His name is also given to

Pic Ramougn Pic Ramougn (3,011 m) is a steep, rocky mountain in the Néouvielle massif in the Pyrenees. It is located in the commune of Saint-Lary-Soulan within the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées, and is named after the French politician, geologist and ...

(3,011 m), a steep, rocky peak in the

Néouvielle massif , photo=Pic Ramougn.jpg , photo_caption=North side of Pic Ramougn from Hourquette d'Aubert , country=France , region_type=Region , region=Hautes-Pyrénées, region1= , region2= , region3= , parent=Pyrenees , length_km=, length_orientat ...

. (in Spanish) ''Ramougn'' is the pronunciation of ''Ramond'' in the

Gascon language Gascon (; , ) is the name of the vernacular Romance languages, Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety (linguistics), variety of Occitan language, Occitan, although some authors consider ...

. * Bory de Saint Vincent gave Ramond's name to a chain of craters (''Puy Ramond'') on the

Piton de la Fournaise Piton de la Fournaise (; en, "Peak of the Furnace") is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island (a French overseas department and region) in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

: they are regularly visited by walkers on the GR route which crosses Réunion from north to south, and by the thousands of runners who take part in the ''Diagonale des Fous'' each year. * The

Société Ramond The Société Ramond is a French learned society devoted to the study of the Pyrenees mountain range that forms a natural border between France and Spain. It is named after the French politician, geologist, botanist and explorer Louis Ramond de Ca ...

(Ramond Society) was formed in 1865 in

Bagnères-de-Bigorre Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally ''Bagnères of Bigorre''; oc, label= Gascon, Banhèras de Bigòrra ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Name The town was known ...

, by Henry Russell (1834–1909), Émilien Frossard (1829–1898),

Charles Packe Charles Packe (22 August 1826 – 16 July 1896) was an English lawyer and explorer who is noted for his travels in and writing about the Pyrenees. Family Packe was born in 1826, the oldest son of Edmund Packe, a captain in the Royal Horse Guards. ...

(1826–1896) and

Farnham Maxwell-Lyte Farnham Maxwell-Lyte FRSC (sometimes Farnham Maxwell Lyte) (10 January 1828 – 4 March 1906) was an English chemist and the pioneer of a number of techniques in photographic processing. As a photographer he is known for his views of the Frenc ...

. It wanted to distinguish itself from traditional academic societies, while still being devoted primarily to the scientific and ethnographic study of the Pyrenees and to the dissemination of knowledge. Ramond, who had excelled in these disciplines, was the best symbol for the new society. The Ramond Society still publishes an annual bulletin. *Ramond's

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

can be seen at the Muséum de l'histoire naturelle in Bagnères-de-Bigorre.

References

Works

Bibliography

*Benoît Dayrat, ''Les Botanistes et la Flore de France, trois siècles de découvertes'', 2003, Publication scientifiques du

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

, 690 pp. *Henri Béraldi, ''Cent ans aux Pyrénées'', Paris, 1898–1904, seven volumes in octavo. Reissued by Les Amis du Livre Pyrénéen, Pau, 1977, then by the Librairie des Pyrénées et de Gascogne, Pau, 2001.

External links

Ramond and the Pic du Midi

Site of the Ramond Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramond De Carbonnieres, Louis 1755 births 1827 deaths Scientists from Strasbourg Barons of the First French Empire Feuillants Members of the Legislative Assembly (France) Members of the Corps législatif Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration 19th-century French botanists French explorers French geologists French mountain climbers Pyrénéistes Members of the French Academy of Sciences Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 18th-century French botanists