The Natural History Museum of Geneva (in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ') is a natural history museum in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

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 ...

. Louis Jurine’s collections of

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

Coleoptera 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 ...

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

and

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

are held by the museum. Other displays include a collection of intricate glass models of invertebrates by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka and a living specimen of a

two headed ''Two Headed'' is a 1995 album by Spirit of the West. It is the band's darkest and heaviest album, with many songs directly addressing the subject of death. Ken Marshall, a noted Canadian producer of industrial music, produced the album, gi ...

tortoise named

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

. The tortoise is considered the mascot of the museum and is one of their main attractions.

Notable people who worked for the museum

* Aloïs Humbert, naturalist and paleontologist, curator since 1852 *

Auguste Louis Brot Auguste Louis Brot (September 18, 1821 ''Sevue Suisse de zoologies'', vol. 4, 1896-189"Auguste Louss Brot"/ref>- August 30, 1896) was a Swiss malacologist ( conchologist). ''The American Naturalist'', March 1897p.270/ref> After several years of st ...

, malacologist, curator and researcher (1855-1896) *

Emil Frey-Gessner Emil Frey-Gessner (19 March 1826, in Aarau – 24 July 1917, in Genf) was a Swiss entomologist. At first Emil Frey-Gessner studied mechanical engineering and was until 1865 technical director in the Frey-Gessner family cotton mill. Later he studied ...

, entomologist, conservator of the entomological collections from 1872 * Émile Dottrens, scientific assistant for zoology *

François Jules Pictet de la Rive François Jules Pictet-De la Rive (27 September 180915 March 1872) was a Swiss zoologist and palaeontologist. Biography He was born in Geneva. He graduated B. Sc. at Geneva in 1829, and pursued his studies for a short time at Paris, where under ...

, curator of paleontological collections *

Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure (; ; 27 November 1829 – 20 February 1905) was a Swiss mineralogist and entomologist specialising in studies of Hymenoptera and Orthopteroid insects. He also was a prolific taxonomist. Biography Sauss ...

, member of the managing committee * Jules Favre, curator (1915-1952) *

Perceval de Loriol Charles Louis Perceval de Loriol (24 July 1828, Geneva – 23 December 1908, Cologny) was a Swiss paleontologist and stratigraphist. He studied natural sciences and paleontology in Geneva as a pupil of François-Jules Pictet. For a period ...

, paleontologist and stratigraphist, associated with the museum for over 40 years *

Peter J. Schwendinger Peter J. Schwendinger (born 27 April 1959 in Dornbirn, Austria) is an Austrian arachnologist. He graduated from Innsbruck University in 1985, and in 1990 with a PhD, where he studied with Konrad Thaler. He was a lecturer at Innsbruck University, f ...

, curator * Pierre Revilliod, curator and researcher Collections of a number of prominent scientists are held in the museum.

References

*Aellen, W., 1970. ''150 ans du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Genève''. A. Kundig Genève. *Sigrist, R., 1990. ''Les origines de la Société de Physique et d'Histoire naturelle (1790–1822). La science genevoise face au modèle français, Genève''. Mémoires de la SPHN, 45/1. *Sigrist, R., 1995. Les origines du Muséum d'histoire naturelle: 1794–1820. ''Revue des Musées de Genève''. (No spécial: Le Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Genève : 175 ans), 335, juin: 2–6.

External links

Official website
Museums with year of establishment missing Museums in Geneva Natural history museums in Switzerland {{Switzerland-museum-stub