Petrus Camper
FRS (11 May 1722 – 7 April 1789), was a Dutch physician,
anatomist
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
,
physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
,
midwife
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...
,
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
,
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
,
palaeontologist
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 ...
and a
naturalist in the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
. He was one of the first to take an interest in
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
,
palaeontology
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 ...
, and the
facial angle
Facial Angles refers to the content of two lectures on this subject by the Amsterdam professor of anatomy Petrus Camper on the 1st and 8 August in 1770 to the Amsterdam Drawing Academy called the ''Teken-akademie''.
Background
Camper was a compet ...
. He was among the first to mark out an "anthropology," which he distinguished from
natural history. He studied the
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
, the
Javan rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...
, and the skull of a
mosasaur
Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on th ...
, which he believed was a whale. Camper was a celebrity in Europe and became a member of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
(1750), the
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
(1779), and
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
(1778), 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 ...
(1783), the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
(1786) and the
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
(1788). He designed and constructed tools for his patients, and for surgeries. He was an amateur drawer, a sculptor, a
patron of art and a conservative, royalist politician. Camper published some lectures containing an account of his
craniometrical methods. These laid the foundation of all subsequent work.
Studies and teaching
![Universiteit van Franeker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Universiteit_van_Franeker.jpg)
Petrus Camper was the son of a well-to-do minister, who made his fortune
Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Batavia was the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia can refer to the city proper or its suburbs and hinterland, the Ommelanden, which included the much-larger area of the Residency ...
and returned with a (young?) pickled
Bornean orangutan
The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli orangutan (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), it belongs to the only genus of great ...
in a jar. A brilliant alumnus, he studied medicine and philosophy at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
and obtained a degree in both sciences on the same day at the age of 24. After both his parents died Camper travelled to England (where he met with
William Smellie), to France (where he met with
Georges de Buffon) and Geneva. In the meantime he was appointed as professor of philosophy, anatomy and surgery at the
University of Franeker
The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University.
History
Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' o ...
and Camper traveled to
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
.
In 1756, Camper married the widow Johanna Boerboom, daughter of the
burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...
of Leeuwarden, whom he met while treating her husband, the burgomaster from
Harlingen.
Surgeon's Guild
![Tibout Regters - De anatomische les van Petrus Camper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Tibout_Regters_-_De_anatomische_les_van_Petrus_Camper.jpg)
In 1755 he had moved to Amsterdam, where he occupied a chair of anatomy and surgery at the
''Athenaeum Illustre'', later completed by a medicine chair. He investigated
inguinal hernia
An inguinal hernia is a hernia (protrusion) of abdominal-cavity contents through the inguinal canal. Symptoms, which may include pain or discomfort especially with or following coughing, exercise, or bowel movements, are absent in about a third ...
,
patella
The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...
and the best form of shoe. He withdrew five years later to dedicate himself to scientific research, living on his wife's estate "Klein Lankum" just outside Franeker. In his farewell speech, he mentioned that he had dissected more than 50 bodies in public, including a twelve-year-old Angolese African boy. His experience led to the publication of ''Demonstrationum anatomico-pathologicarum'' (1760-1762). In 1762 he became politically active and promoted public health issues such as
vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
against
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
.
In 1763 he accepted the chair of anatomy, surgery and botany at the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...
. He made drawings to illustrate his eloquent lectures and the number of students grew.
His main focus of attention was anatomy, zoology and his collection of minerals and fossils. Among his many works, he studied
osteology
Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, funct ...
of birds and discovered the presence of air in the inner
cavities
Cavity may refer to:
Biology and healthcare
*Body cavity, a fluid-filled space in many animals where organs typically develop
**Gastrovascular cavity, the primary organ of digestion and circulation in cnidarians and flatworms
*Dental cavity or too ...
of birds' skeletons. He investigated the anatomy of eight young orangutans, establishing it as a different species to humans, as
quadrupeds
Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...
, against the theories of contemporary scientists. "Camper cleared up a lot of confusion when he distinguished the
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
from the
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
." Petrus Camper published treatises on the hearing of fishes and the sound of frogs. He studied the diseases of ''
rinderpest
Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs ...
'' and
rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vi ...
(1768-1770). Camper kept a surgical clinic. Before retiring in 1773, he introduced several new instruments and procedures for surgery and
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
. Back in Franeker, he dissected an elephant and a
Javan rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...
, after they died in the
menagerie
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden.
The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...
, belonging to the
stadtholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
. In 1782 he published his latest research, a treatise in which he disagreed with
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
and De Buffon on the
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
of apes.
* In 1778 he was visited by
Samuel Thomas von Sömmering
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
, who later became a professor in Göttingen. Camper was in contact with
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He wa ...
and
Johann Heinrich Merck
Johann Heinrich Merck (11 April 1741 – 27 June 1791), German author and critic, was born at Darmstadt, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist.
He studied law at Gießen, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's depar ...
.
* In 1780 he travelled in the company of his son to
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...
and met with
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...
. In
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, he was received by
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
, introduced by
Henri de Catt
Henri Alexandre de Catt (25 June 1725–23 November 1795), a Swiss scholar, was from 1758 the private secretary and close confidant of Frederick the Great of Prussia. He is often described as the king's "reader" (''Vorleser''), but in fact did ...
. In Berlin he met with
Moses Mendelsohn
Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...
and
Samuel Formey.
* In 1781 he traveled to Hamburg and met with
Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to:
People
*Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father
*Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460)
*Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...
and
Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg
Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg (4 August 1715– 5 of February 1800), was the ruling Countess of Varel and Kniphausen,Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser IV. "Portland". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1956, pp. 484-485. (German). adjacen ...
; in 1782 Camper visited the
Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Bevern (25 September 1718, Wolfenbüttel – 12 May 1788, Eisenach) was a field-marshal in the armies of the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, the elected Duke of Courland (1741). From 13 November 1750 t ...
.
* In November 1783 he was a Foreign Founding Member 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 ...
.
* In 1783 he was appointed by the stadtholder as one of the burgomasters of
Workum
Workum () is a city located in the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân in Friesland, Netherlands. It received city rights in 1399 and is one of the eleven cities of Friesland. It had a population of 4,435 in January 2017.Admiralty of Friesland
The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty (Dutch: ''Admiraliteit van Friesland'' or ''Friese Admiraliteit''; West Frisian: ''Fryske Admiraliteit'') was one of the five Dutch admiralties of the Dutch Republic. Set up on 6 March 1596, it was ...
. Camper was an
Orangist, opposing the
patriots.
* In 1785 he visited
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
.
* In September 1787 he became the president of the
state council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
of the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
and warmly welcomed the return of the stadtholder
William V of Orange
William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...
and his wife
Wilhelmine of Prussia in the Hague.
*At the end of life he suffered from
pleuritis
Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sym ...
; Camper had a Burgundian lifestyle, drank a good glass of
champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
and died.
Comparative anatomy
![Mosasaurus onderkaak - Faujas de Saint-Fond](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Mosasaurus_onderkaak_-_Faujas_de_Saint-Fond.png)
One of the first to study
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
, Petrus Camper demonstrated the principle of correlation in all organisms by "
metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
". In his 1778 lecture, "On the Points of Similarity between the Human Species,
Quadrupeds
Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...
, Birds, and Fish; with Rules for Drawing, founded on this Similarity," he metamorphosed a horse into a human being, thus showing the similarity between all
vertebrates
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
.
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories. ...
theorised this in 1795 as the "unity of organic composition," the influence of which is perceptible in all his subsequent writings; nature, he observed, presents us with only one plan of construction, the same in principle, but varied in its accessory parts. Camper's metamorphoses which demonstrated this "unity of Plan" greatly impressed
Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...
and
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
. In 1923 and 1939 some Dutch authors suggested that Camper foreshadowed Goethe's famous idea of "
type" – a common structural pattern in some manner
"Facial angle"
![Camper Measurements on human male head](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Camper_Measurements_on_human_male_head.jpg)
Petrus Camper is renowned for his theory of
facial angle
Facial Angles refers to the content of two lectures on this subject by the Amsterdam professor of anatomy Petrus Camper on the 1st and 8 August in 1770 to the Amsterdam Drawing Academy called the ''Teken-akademie''.
Background
Camper was a compet ...
(
prognathism
Prognathism, also called Habsburg jaw or Habsburgs' jaw primarily in the context of its prevalence amongst members of the House of Habsburg, is a positional relationship of the mandible or maxilla to the skeletal base where either of the jaws pr ...
). He determined that humans had facial angles between 70° and 80°, with African and Asian angles closer to 70°, and European angles closer to 80. According to his new portraiture technique, an angle is formed by drawing two lines: one horizontally from the
nostril
A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...
to the ear, and the other
perpendicularly
In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
from the advancing part of the upper
jawbone
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...
to the most prominent part of the
forehead
In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fore ...
. He claimed that antique Greco-Roman statues presented an angle of 100°-95°, Europeans of 80°, 'Orientals' of 70°, Black people of 70° and the orangutan of 42–58°. He stated that, out of all races, Africans were most removed from the classical sense of ideal beauty. These results were later used as
scientific racism
Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies ...
, with research continued by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and
Paul Broca
Pierre Paul Broca (, also , , ; 28 June 1824 – 9 July 1880) was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca's area is involve ...
.
Camper, however, agreed with
Buffon in drawing a sharp line between human and animals (although he was misinterpreted by
Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...
, who claimed that he was a supporter of the
Great Chain of Being
The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals.
The great c ...
theory).
[Ann Thomson]
Issues at stake in eighteenth-century racial classification
, ''Cromohs'', 8 (2003): 1–20 Camper confirmed the categorizing
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 ...
by
Linné
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
.
Camper and the arts
He was interested in architecture,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, furniture making, drawing and illustrated his own lectures. Four times he gave lectures in Amsterdam to art students, e.g. on beauty and
portraiture
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...
. He disagreed that artists painted the black Magus (in the
nativity) with a
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
face.
In 1780 he took lessons from
Étienne Maurice Falconet
Étienne Maurice Falconet (1 December 1716 – 24 January 1791) was a French baroque, rococo and Neoclassical sculpture, neoclassical sculptor, best-known for his equestrian statue of Peter the Great, the ''Bronze Horseman'' (1782), in St. Pete ...
. In his ideas about art, Camper was influenced by
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and founding he ...
. He made drawings of the
Dolmen
A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
near
Noordlaren
Noordlaren is a village in the municipality of Groningen in the Dutch province of Groningen. It had a population of around 545 in 2021.
In 2010 it was said to be 850 years old. In the past Noordlaren was a farming village. Nowadays there are still ...
. He was in the selection committee for the prize contest for the design of the
new townhall in Groningen that was awarded to his friend
Jacob Otten Husly
Jacob Otten Husly (16 November 1738 – 11 January 1796) was an 18th-century architect from the Northern Netherlands.
Biography
He was born in Doetinchem to Albert Otten and Anna Hendrica Huslij, and added his mother's surname to his name from ...
.
Legacy
Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...
praised his "genius eye" but criticised him for keeping himself to simple sketches. He had a
eulogy
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...
in his honour composed by
Nicolas de Condorcet
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher and mathematician. His ideas, including support for a liberal economy, free and equal pu ...
and
Félix Vicq-d'Azyr
Félix Vicq d'Azyr (; 23 April 1748 – 20 June 1794) was a French physician and anatomist, the originator of comparative anatomy and discoverer of the theory of homology in biology.
Biography
Vicq d'Azyr was born in Valognes, Normandy, the son o ...
. Camper influenced
Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton
Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton (29 May 1716 – 1 January 1800) was a French naturalist and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers''.
Biography
Daubenton was born at Montbard, Côte-d' ...
.
His son
Adriaan Gilles Camper
Adriaan Gilles Camper (March 31, 1759 – February 5, 1820) was a 19th-century Dutch mathematics and physics professor at the University of Franeker who took to politics and became a statesman in his later years. He was the son of Petrus Camper is ...
published much of his father's unpublished research in addition to a biography of him.
The Dutch author
Thomas Rosenboom
Thomas Rosenboom (born 8 January 1956, in Doetinchem), is a Dutch author of novels and short stories. His novels ''Gewassen vlees'' and ''Publieke werken'' won him the Libris Prize in 1995 and 2000; he is the only author to have won it twice.
Ca ...
used Petrus Camper as a character in his novel, ''Gewassen vlees'' (1994).
Camper was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1789.
Works
* Dissertation from Leiden University.
* ''Demonstrationes anatomico- pathologicae''
760–1762* ''Dissertation sur les différences des traits du visage'' and ''Discours sur l'art de juger les passions de l'homme par les traits de son visage''
* ''On the Best Form of Shoe''
* ''
Two lectures to the Amsterdam Drawing society on the facial angle'' (1770)
* ''On the Points of Similarity between the Human Species, Quadrupeds, Birds, and Fish; with Rules for Drawing, founded on this Similarity'' (1778)
* ''Historiae literariae cultoribus S.P.D. Petrus Camper''. A list of his work, published by himself.
* ''Works by Petrus Camper'', the French compilation of Camper's work, based on Camper's French lecture notes and the posthumous publications by his son A.G. Camper, published and partially translated by Hendrik Jansen in 1803 in three octavo volumes.
[Oeuvres de Pierre Camper, qui ont pour objet l'histoire naturelle, la physiologie et l'anatomie comparée, Paris, 1803]
Volume 3
on Google books
Notes
References
* Bouillet, Marie-Nicolas Bouillet and Alexis Chassang. (1878). ''Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie.''
* Meijer, Miriam Claude
(English)
* Rosenboom, Thomas. (2004). ''Gewassen vlees.'' Amsterdam:
Querido
Emanuel Querido (6 August 1871 – 23 July 1943) was a successful Dutch publisher as the founder and owner of N.V. Em. Querido Uitgeversmaatschappij, which published Dutch titles, and of , which published titles of German writers in exile from N ...
.
* Thomson, Ann. ''Issues at Stake in Eighteenth-century Racial Classification,'' Cromohs, 8 (2003): 1–20 (English)
*
*''Studying in Groningen Through the Ages: A History of the University of Groningen and the First English Department in the Netherlands''. Groningen: Groningen University Press, 2014.
External links
Biography of Petrus CamperRijksuniversiteit GroningenAuthor pagein the
DBNL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camper, Petrus
1722 births
1789 deaths
Dutch anatomists
18th-century Dutch anatomists
Dutch naturalists
18th-century Dutch naturalists
People from Leiden
Leiden University alumni
University of Franeker faculty
University of Amsterdam faculty
Fellows of the Royal Society
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Founder Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Members of the American Philosophical Society