Pierre Eugène Marie Joseph Pruvost (1 August 1890 – 5 June 1967) was a French geologist who worked as a professor of geology at the
University of Lille
The University of Lille (french: Université de Lille, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the m ...
. He was a specialist on the fossil fauna and flora of the coal basins of Europe.
Life and work
Pruvost was born in
Raismes
Raismes () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The flutist Gaston Blanquart (1877–1962) was born in Raismes.
Raismes is known for hosting the annual rock music festival Raismes Fest.
Population
Notable residents
*Pierre ...
in a family of physicians. He went to study medicine but shifted to geology and after receiving a degree in science from Lille in 1910 he went to work under
Charles Barrois
Charles Eugene Barrois (21 August 18515 November 1939) was a French geologist and palaeontologist.
Life
Barrois was born at Lille and educated at the Jesuit College of St Joseph in that town, where he studied geology under Professor Jules Goss ...
. He then began to examined the geology of northern France and looked at the fossils and stratigraphy of the coal mines of
Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...
for his doctorate, obtained only after World War I, in 1919. He then became a lecturer and in 1922, a professor of applied geology. He succeeded Charles Barrois at the University of Lille in 1926. He went to Sorbonne in 1950 and worked there until his death. Pruvost noted the idea that plant debris produced coal while the edges of coal basins included fish fossils and were associated with oil shale.
Pruvost guided numerous students and served as the president of the Geological Society of France in 1948 and in 1963. He was made officer of the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
in 1949. In 1954 he was made a member of the Academy of Sciences in Paris. In 1963 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
.
References
1890 births
1967 deaths
20th-century French geologists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
People from Nord (French department)
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