The Natural History Museum of Geneva (in French: ') is a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland.

Louis Jurine Louis Jurine (; 6 February 1751 – 20 October 1819) was a Swiss physician, surgeon and naturalist mainly interested in entomology. He lived in Geneva. Surgeon He studied surgery in Paris and quickly acquired a great reputation for his expertis ...

’s collections of Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera are held by the museum. Other displays include a collection of intricate glass models of invertebrates by

Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka Leopold Blaschka (27 May 1822 – 3 July 1895) and his son Rudolf Blaschka (17 June 1857 – 1 May 1939) were glass artists from Dresden, Germany, native to the Bohemian (Czech)–German borderland, and known for the production of biological m ...

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, givin ...

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

named Janus. 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 Aloïs Humbert (22 September 1829, in Geneva – 14 May 1887) was a Swiss naturalist and paleontologist who specialized in the study of myriapods. He also described new vertebrates (fishes, reptiles, mammals), molluscs and flatworms. In 1852 he ...

, 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, entomologist, conservator of the entomological collections from 1872 *

Émile Dottrens Émile Dottrens (21 July 1900 – 29 September 1990) was a Swiss zoologist and nature conservationist. He became a scientific assistant for zoology at the Natural History Museum of Geneva in 1942 and was the director of that museum from 1953 to 196 ...

, 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 Jules Claude Gabriel Favre (21 March 1809 – 20 January 1880) was a French statesman and lawyer. After the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he became one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans in the National Assem ...

, curator (1915-1952) * Perceval de Loriol, paleontologist and stratigraphist, associated with the museum for over 40 years * Peter J. Schwendinger, curator *

Pierre Revilliod Pierre Revilliod (1883–1954) was a Swiss naturalist. From 1927–1953 Revilliod was a curator and researcher at the Natural History Museum of Geneva. He is best known for his work on fossil bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiro ...

, 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