Pierre Hupé (22 March 1907, Baye – 23 August 2003,

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 ...

) was a French

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. Hupé studied sciences at the Universities of

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 ...

and Nancy, where he graduated in 1931 with the geneticist

Lucien Cuénot Lucien Claude Marie Julien Cuénot (; 21 October 1866 – 7 January 1951) was a French biologist. In the first half of the 20th century, Mendelism was not a popular subject among French biologists. Cuénot defied popular opinion and shirked the “ ...

. Hupé was an excellent draftsman, for which he also won prizes at the University. After that he was high school teacher of natural sciences. In the 1930s he made the first geological inventory of the Pyrenees on an assignment by Professor Charles Jacob. During World War II he was an artillery officer and received the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. Between 1945 and 1949 he worked for the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

and in 1951 at started at the Laboratory of Geology of the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. In 1960 he was appointed professor of paleontology at the

(later the University of Paris VI, Pierre et Marie Curie), where he founded the Laboratory of Invertebrate Paleontology in 1967, which he directed until his retirement in 1977. Hupé is known for his classical works on

trilobites Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

, especially their classification. This work later formed the basis for the classification in the

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' (or ''TIP'') published by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press, is a definitive multi-authored work of some 50 volumes, written by more than 300 paleontologists, and co ...

. He is also known for his work on the trilobites of the

Lower Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago (m ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, and his detailed

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

, commissioned by the Service Geologique du Maroc in 1952. He gained international recognition with his

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

of the Lower and Middle

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

and

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

in southern Morocco, and received in 1957 the

Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal is an award presented by the National Academy of Sciences every five years to promote research and study in the fields of Precambrian and Cambrian life and history. The medal was established and endowed in 1934 by ...

. In 1959 he received his doctorate with a thesis titled ''Nouvelle contribution a l´etude du Cambrien Marocain''. He left his trilobites collection to the University of Rennes I, and to the Natural History Museum in Havre.

Main publications

*Classe des Trilobites, in J. Piveteau ''Traité de Paléontologie'', Band 3, Masson 1953, S. 44-246 *Classification des Trilobites, Annales de Paléontologie, 1953, 1955 *Contribution a l´etude du Cambrien inferieur et du Precambrien III de l´Antiatlas marocain, Notes et Memoires, Service des Mines et de la Carte geologique du Maroc, Band 103, 1953, pp. 1–402

Sources

biography in Palass Newsletter pdf
* Obituary of Francoise Bigey, the Paleontological Society Newsletter (Priscum), Volume 12, No.2, Winter 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hupe, Pierre French paleontologists 1907 births 2003 deaths Nancy-Université alumni