Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel (1774 – 10 January 1846) was a French soldier and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Life and career

Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel was born in 1774 in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, Nord, and died on 10 January 1846 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 ...

. After studies in

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

, he joined the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

when he was sixteen years old and took part in the campaigns of 1795 and 1796. Retiring from the army, he worked afterwards as a government administrator stationed in Paris. He was forced to retire again in 1816, aged 42 years, because of his opinions in favour of

Napoleon Bonaparte 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 ...

. He then devoted himself to the study of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

. After twelve years of effort, Duponchel finished in 1838 ''L’Histoire naturelle des lépidoptères de France'', co-authored with

Jean Baptiste Godart Jean-Baptiste Godart (25 November 1775 – 27 July 1825) was a French entomologist. Born at Origny, Godart became impassioned by butterflies in his youth. He was charged by Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833) with writing the article on th ...

. This work consists of seventeen volumes (including twelve signed by Duponchel), 7600 coloured plates and 500 "boards" (which appear under the title ''Iconographie des Chenilles'' or ''Iconography of the Caterpillars''). The volumes were published between 1832 and 1842, and within its pages the authors describe more than four thousand

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of butterflies and moths. Duponchel was one of the founders of the

Société Entomologique de France The Société entomologique de France, or French Entomological Society, is devoted to the study of insects. The society was founded in 1832 in Paris, France. The society was created by eighteen Parisian entomologists on January 31, 1832. The first ...

and was its first treasurer. He was a very close friend of

Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean (10 August 1780 – 17 March 1845), was a French soldier and entomologist. Dejean described a large number of beetles in a series of catalogues. A soldier of fortune during the Napoleonic Wars, he rose to ...

Auguste Duméril Auguste Henri André Duméril (30 November 1812 – 12 November 1870) was a French zoologist. His father, André Marie Constant Duméril (1774-1860), was also a zoologist. In 1869 he was elected as a member of the Académie des sciences. Duméril ...

and

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freedom ...

. He married Marie-Joseph-Désirée Ravet (d. July 1847) and had two sons. His son

Charles-Edmond Duponchel Charles-Edmond Duponchel (7 April 1804 – 13 February 1864) was a French military officer accountant, in which capacity he served in Spain and Algeria. In addition, he studied architecture. He has frequently been confused by later writers with hi ...

(b. 7 April 1804),Dion-Tenenbaum 1997, p. 75 note 86. studied architecture and was an accountant first class at the ''Ministère de la Guerre'', and his son Auguste (d. October 1846) was chief medical officer of ''l'Ecole polytechnique''. Philogène Auguste is buried in the cemetery of Montparnasse.

References

* Dion-Tenenbaum, Anne (1997)
"Multiple Duponchel"
in ''Revue de l'Art'', vol 116, pp. 66–75. .

External links

Bust of Duponchel by his nephew
French taxonomists 1774 births 1846 deaths French lepidopterists People from Valenciennes 19th-century French zoologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France 18th-century French zoologists French Army soldiers {{entomologist-stub