The Société Ramond is a French

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

devoted to the study of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

mountain range that forms a natural border between France and Spain. It is named after the French politician, geologist, botanist and explorer

Louis Ramond de Carbonnières Louis François Élisabeth Ramond, baron de Carbonnières (4 January 1755 Strasbourg – 14 May 1827), was a French politician, geologist and botanist. He is regarded as one of the first explorers of the high mountains of the Pyrenees who can be d ...

and is based in Bagnères-de-Bigorre in southwestern France.

Founding

The society was formed in 1865 (although 1864 is also given as its founding date) in Bagnères-de-Bigorre by Henry Russell (1834–1909), a French-Irish eccentric who made many first ascents in the Pyrenees; Émilien Frossard (1829–1898); and

Charles Packe Charles Packe (22 August 1826 – 16 July 1896) was an English lawyer and explorer who is noted for his travels in and writing about the Pyrenees. Family Packe was born in 1826, the oldest son of Edmund Packe, a captain in the Royal Horse Guard ...

(1826–1896). Their first meeting, at which Frossard (with his two sons Charles and Emilien-Sigismond), Packe and Russell came up with the idea for a society to be modelled on the recently formed

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

in London (1857), was on 19 August 1864 at in

Gavarnie Gavarnie (; oc, Gavarnia) is a former commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, Southwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Gavarnie-Gèdre. Two weeks later at Frossard's house in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, with

Farnham Maxwell-Lyte Farnham Maxwell-Lyte FRSC (sometimes Farnham Maxwell Lyte) (10 January 1828 – 4 March 1906) was an English chemist and the pioneer of a number of techniques in photographic processing. As a photographer he is known for his views of the Frenc ...

in attendance, the society may be said to have been formed. At this meeting, Russell, a keen mountaineer and along with Packe and Maxwell-Lyte a member of the Alpine Club, argued that all candidates for membership should have climbed at least one Pyrenean peak of three thousand metres or more. Frossard replied that the society was aiming for a large-scale study of the mountain range and not mere acrobatics. The issue of the society's name was the next subject to be broached. Russell, perhaps still angling for a sporting focus, suggested ''Le club des isards'' (the Chamois club). Again Froissard demurred. The society wanted to distinguish itself from traditional academic societies, while still being devoted primarily to the scientific and ethnographic study of the Pyrenees and to the dissemination of knowledge. Ramond, according to Froissard, had excelled in these disciplines and was the best symbol for the new society. This time all were agreed, and so the club was named. The composition of the society's first committee was: Frossard, president; Maxwell-Lyte, vice-president; Russell, secretary; Packe, assistant secretary. Among its earliest members were the geographer

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

and the chemist Henry Holy-Claire Deville.

Achievements

The society started publishing a trimestrial bulletin in the first half of 1866 entitled , in which its most eminent members put forth their theories and reported on the fruits of the research. Amongst its early contributors were some of the great names of , such as Baysselance, Briet, Cordier, Gourdon, Lequeutre, Packe, Russell, Saint Saud and Wallon. Pic du Midi de Bigorre Observatory

In 1874, the society was given the role of enlarging the collection of the natural history museum in the thermal baths of Bagnères-of-Bigorre (created in 1837) and to have an active role in its management. Frossard contributed specimens in mineralogy, palaeontology and prehistory. It was also responsible for the construction of an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

on the

Pic du Midi de Bigorre The Pic du Midi de Bigorre or simply the Pic du Midi (elevation ) is a mountain in the French Pyrenees. It is the site of the Pic du Midi Observatory. Pic du Midi Observatory The Pic du Midi Observatory (french: Observatoire du Pic du Midi ...

. This was the idea of a Dr Costallat; Frossard and J. J. Dumoret went to Paris to try and drum up funds from the government, while the commune of Bagnères, directed by Dumoret, as well as giving funds also gave the grounds necessary to the observatory. The Société Ramond put all of its funds towards the project, and organised a subscription from its members. The first stones of the observatory were laid in 1878, but by 1882, as a result of spiralling costs that were beyond its relatively modest means, the society yielded the observatory to the French state, which gained possession by a law of 7 August 1882. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

slowed down the activities of the society, although it still continued to publish . The bulletin ceased publication around the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and it was only in 1968 that it was again published.

Gallery

and the four founding members of the ''Société Ramond'' Image:Louis Ramond.gif, Image:Count Henry Russell.gif, Henry Russell (explorer), Image:Charles Packe.jpg, Image:E._frossard.gif, Image:F. Maxwell-Lyte.jpg,

References

External links

Société Ramond official website

''Explorations pyrénéennes: bulletin trimestriel de la Société Ramond'' at books.google.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe Ramond 1865 establishments in France Learned societies of France