Onésime Yegorowitsch Claire, also George Onésime Clerc (Russian: Онисим Егорович Клер; 25 February 1845 – 18 January 1920), was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

naturalist of Swiss origin.

Life

Clerc was born in Corcelles and graduated from the trade school in Neuchâtel. The family circumstances did not allow him to study at university. In 1862, Clerc emigrated to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and became a French home teacher with the

Trubetskoy family The House of Trubetskoy (English), Трубецкие (Russian), Трубяцкі ( Belarusian), ''Trubecki'' (Polish), ''Trubetsky'' ( Ruthenian), Трубецький (Ukrainian), ''Troubetzkoy'' (French), ''Trubic'' (Croatian), ''Trubetski'' ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. After taking an exam at the

Saint Petersburg Imperial University Saint Petersburg Imperial University (russian: Санкт-Петербургский Императорский университет) was a Russian higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg, one of the twelve Imperial universities ...

, he was allowed to teach French at educational institutions. After three years in Moscow, he worked in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluenc ...

, where he participated in the work of the local scientific society. In 1867, Clerc became a French teacher at the boys' high school in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

, which opened in 1861. He explored the nature and sights in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg. The director of the high school and his colleagues as well as the director of the Yekaterinburg Mining School N. K. Chupin supported him. Soon he founded the Ural Society of Natural Science Lovers, whose secretary and later president he remained until his death, and the UOLJ Museum, which opened at the end of 1870 and later became the local history museum of Sverdlovsk Oblast. In 1870, Clerc married the daughter of a priest Nataliya Nikolajewna Solotova, with whom he had four children. The eldest son Vladimir studied at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

and became a biologist. The second son Modeste became a geologist. The third son Georgi became a zoologist. The youngest child Kristiana became a French teacher in Shadrinsk. Clerc published geological and natural history works. He named botanical taxa. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, his name appears in the form ''Clerc''. He was a member of more than 20 foreign and Russian scientific societies. Clerc died on 18 January 1920 in Yekaterinburg. The annual award for the best museum project in the Urals bears Clerc's name. In 2015, the first Clerc monument in Russia was erected at the entrance to the local history museum in Yekaterinburg.

Honors

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

Literature

* Pavel L. Gorchakovsky, Claude Favarger, Philippe Küpfer
Onésime Clerc (1845-1920), naturaliste: un neuchâtelois en Russie
in: ''Bulletin de la Société neuchâteloise des sciences naturelles'', 118, 1995, p. 15-26. : ill (French). * Rudolf Mumenthaler, ''Im Paradies der Gelehrten'', 1996 (German).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerc, Onesime Russian naturalists Swiss emigrants Immigrants to the Russian Empire Naturalists from the Russian Empire 19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian botanists 1845 births 1920 deaths