Société des observateurs de l'homme, rendered in English as Society of Observers of Man, was 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 ...

founded 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 ...

in 1799. Long considered the birthplace of French

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, the society nevertheless dissolved in 1804.

History

The ''Société des observateurs de l'homme'' was founded on Christian principles by

Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard (; 20 September 1742 – 10 May 1822) was a French abbé and instructor of the deaf. Born at Le Fousseret, in the ancient Province of Languedoc (now the Department of Haute-Garonne), and educated as a priest, Sicard w ...

Louis-François Jauffret Louis-François Jauffret (4 October 1770 – 11 December 1840) was an 18th–19th-century French educator, poet and fabulist Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatur ...

and

Joseph de Maimieux Joseph de Maimieux (1753–1820), was a French noble who had emigrated to Germany at the time of the Revolution, who returned to France in 1797. He invented a ''sorte de système de langage universel'' ("kind of universal language system") which he ...

. The brevity of its existence and relative dearth of records provide scant history, but they did leave traces of their involvement with

feral child A feral child (also called wild child) is a young individual who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, with little or no experience of human care, social behavior, or language. The term is used to refer to children who h ...

Victor of Aveyron Victor of Aveyron (; c. 1788 – 1828) was a French feral child who was found at the age of around 9. Not only is he considered the most famous feral child, but his case is also the most documented case of a feral child. Upon his discovery, he wa ...

, as well as the

Baudin expedition to Australia The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French expedition to map the coast of New Holland (now Australia). Nicolas Baudin was selected as leader in October 1800. The expedition started with two ships, '' Géographe'', captained by Baudin, an ...

. The Constitution of the Society was set at its inaugural meeting in the

Rue de Seine Rue de Seine is a street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Rue de Seine is one of the most sought after streets in Paris due to its history and very close proximity to the Louvre and other famous Parisian landmarks. The rue de Seine and surro ...

, August 1799. There they brought together naturalists, physicians (including psychiatrists), philosophers, writers, historians, linguists, orientalists and archaeologists under the chairmanship of John de Maimieux. Louis-François Jauffret, at whose home they met, was named permanent secretary. In 1800, the Society offered a 600 franc prize for study of very young children with an eye toward discovering the extent to which their physical, intellectual, and moral faculties are supported or opposed by the influences of the objects and people in the child's environment. The Society went silent in 1804, and was largely forgotten until the time of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

, when

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 ...

of the

Society of Anthropology of Paris The Society of Anthropology of Paris (french: Société d’Anthropologie de Paris) is a French learned society for anthropology founded by Paul Broca in 1859. Broca served as the Secrétaire-général of SAP, and in that capacity responded to a l ...

cited the existence of the Observateurs in his claim that French anthropological societies predated those of Great Britain, which were then in ascendency.

Membership

Resident Members

Pierre Bonnefous -

Mathieu-Antoine Bouchaud Mathieu-Antoine Bouchaud (16 April 1719 – 1 February 1804) was an 18th-century French economist and lawyer who contributed to the ''Encyclopédie'' by Diderot and d'Alembert. Werke (Auswahl) *1773: ''Théorie des traités de commerce entre ...

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolution ...

- Antoine-Marie-Henri Boulard -

Simon-Jérôme Bourlet de Vauxcelles Simon-Jérôme Bourlet, abbé de Vauxcelles (11 August 1733, Versailles – 18 March 1802, Paris) was an 18th-century French priest and journalist during the French Revolution. Biography Born in Versailles, he was a preacher of the king, canon of ...

- Pierre-Roland-François Butet de La Sarthe - Guillaume de Sainte-Croix - Adamance Coray -

Frédéric Cuvier Georges-Frédéric Cuvier (28 June 1773 – 24 July 1838) was a French zoologist and paleontologist. He was the younger brother of noted naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier. Career Frederic was the head keeper of the menagerie at the Muséu ...

Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d'Ansse (or Dannse) de Villoison (5 March 1750 (or 1753) – 25 April 1805) was a classical scholar born at Corbeil-sur-Seine, France. He belonged to a noble family (De Ansso) of Spanish origin, and took his surname ...

- Joseph-Marie de Gérando - Joseph-Philippe-François Deleuze -

Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu Dieudonné Sylvain Guy Tancrède de Gratet de Dolomieu usually known as Déodat de Dolomieu (; 23 June 175028 November 1801) was a French geologist. The mineral and the rock Dolomite (rock), dolomite and the largest summital crater on the Piton d ...

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology. His ...

- Antoine-François Fourcroy - Marie-Nicolas-Silvestre Guillon-Pastel - Jean Noël Hallé - Jean Itard - Gaspard-André Jauffret -

- Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu -

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

- Pierre-Henri Larcher - Pierre Laromiguière - Auguste-Savinien Leblond - Théodoric-Nilammon Lerminier -

Jean-Joseph Marcel Jean-Joseph Marcel (24 November 1776 – 11 March 1854) was a French printer and engineer. He was also a ''savant'' who accompanied Napoleon's 1798 campaign in Egypt as a member of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, a corps of 167 technical ...

Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison (19 July 1759 (Paris) – 14 August 1818 Paris) was an antiquary and naturalist erudite in various domains, who followed Jean-Jacques Barthélemy as curator of the Cabinet des médailles et antiques of the former ...

- Mathieu de Montmorency-Laval - Louis-Jacques Moreau de la SartheLouis-Jacques Moreau de la Sarthe, Description des principales monstruosités dans l’homme et dans les animaux précédée d’un discours sur la physiologie et la classification des monstres avec figures coloriées par N.F. Regnault - AREHN
/ref> - Pierre-Henry Nysten (probably

Pierre-Hubert Nysten Pierre-Hubert Nysten (30 October 1771 – 3 March 1818) was a French physiologist and pediatrician who was a native of Liège. Biography He studied medicine in Paris, and eventually became a professor at the École de Médecine in Paris. Sho ...

) -

Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois (27 July 1752, in Arras – 21 January 1820, in Paris) was a French naturalist and zoologist. Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, from 17 ...

Jean-Pierre Papon Jean-Pierre Papon (23 January 1734 – 15 January 1803) was an 18th-century French abbot, historian of the Provence and of the French Revolution. Life and work Papon finished school in Turin and at the age of 18 years became an Oratorian. He t ...

- Eugène Louis Melchior Patrin -

Philippe Pinel Philippe Pinel (; 20 April 1745 – 25 October 1826) was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of ps ...

- Joseph Marie Portalis -

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 ...

- Dominique Ricard -

- Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy -

Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt (1 February 1751 – 9 May 1812) was a French naturalist. Career Between 1799 and 1808, Sonnini de Manoncourt wrote 127 volumes of the ''Histoire naturelle''. Noteworthy among these, especiall ...

Charles Athanase Walckenaer Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer (25 December 1771 – 28 April 1852) was a French civil servant and scientist. Biography Walckenaer was born in Paris and studied at the universities of University of Oxford, Oxford and University of Glasgow ...

Corresponding Members

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

- Pierre-Justin Bernier - Frédéric de Bissy -

Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus (16 July 1776 – 2 April 1827) was a German physician and naturalist who spent most of his active career teaching at Vilnius University in Tsarist Russia. Bojanus was born at Bouxwiller in Alsace, finished his secondar ...

- Hyacinthe de Bougainville - Jean Cailleau - Pierre Faure -

Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert (21 June 1741, in Lyon – 2 September 1814, in Lyon) was a French politician, botanist, freemason, medical doctor and member of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon __NOTOC__ The Academy of Sciences, Hum ...

Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin Baron Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin (13 October 1768 – 23 April 1839) was a rear admiral of the French navy and later a Baron. He commanded numerous naval expeditions and battles with the Royal Navy as well as exploratory voyages in the Indi ...

- Urbain-René-Thomas Le Bouvier-Desmortiers -

François Levaillant François Levaillant (born Vaillant, later in life as Le Vaillant, ''"The Valiant"'') (6 August 1753 – 22 November 1824) was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, and noted ornithologist. He described many new species of ...

René Maugé de Cely René Maugé (born in 1757 - died 20 February 1802) was a French zoologist. René Maugé was born in 1757 in Cély-en-Bière, in the Seine-et-Marne department near Paris, France. Nothing is known of his life prior to May 1794. In that month, he s ...

André Michaux André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Per ...

François Péron François Auguste Péron (22 August 1775 – 14 December 1810) was a French naturalist and explorer. Life Péron was born in Cérilly, Allier, in 1775, the son of a tailor (not a harness maker as is frequently asserted). Although intended for ...

- Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel - Anselme Riedle

Bibliography

* Jean Copans and Jean Jamin, ''Aux origines de l’anthropologie française'', Paris, Le Sycomore, 1978. * Jean-Luc Chappey, ''The ‘Société des Observateurs de l’homme’ and the history of French anthropology (1799–1804) How Napoléon Bonaparte ended the French Revolution'
online PDF
*Efram Sera-Shriar, The Making of British Anthropology, 1813-1871, London: Pickering & Chatto and Routledge, 2013, pp. 53-80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe des observateurs de l'homme 1804 disestablishments in France Anthropology organizations Learned societies of France Organizations based in Paris Organizations established in 1799