Charles Constant Wilfrid Kilian (15 June 1862 - 30 September 1925) was a French geologist, paleontologist, and professor at the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

where he was a specialist on Alpine geology. He studied stratigraphy and the oscillations in glaciation.

Life and work

Kilian was born in

Schiltigheim Schiltigheim (, , and sometimes by non-local speakers of French; Alsatian: ''Schelige'' ; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Schilikois'' in French and ''Scheligemer'' ...

in the Alsace region. His father Conrad was a pastor with part Irish ancestry (with an interest in educating deaf-mutes, working for the Boers) and his mother Clémentine was the daughter of Charles Cuvier, a pastor and historian at Strasbourg from the Montbéliard family which included

George Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

. He was educated at the Protestant Gymnasium, Strasbourg and then the Alsatian School at Paris. He studied geology at the

University of Sorbonne The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

, becoming a contemporary and lifelong collaborator of Emile Haug and travelled around Europe, sometimes with Marcel Bertrand, studying the Lure mountains for his 1888 thesis under

Edmond Hébert Edmond Hébert (12 June 18124 April 1890), French geologist, was born at Villefargau, Yonne. He was educated at the College de Meaux, Auxerre, and at the École Normale in Paris. In 1836 he became professor at Meaux, in 1838 demonstrator in chemi ...

. He collaborated with Marcel Bertrand on the production of a geological map of France. He worked as a lecturer at the

University of Clermont-Ferrand The University of Clermont-Ferrand was officially founded in 1896, by merging of two existing faculties (Literature and Sciences) and a medical school. In 1976, due to political issues, the University split between University Clermont-Ferrand I - ...

but was persuaded by Bertrand to apply for the position of professor of geology at the University of Grenoble in 1892, a position made vacant upon the death of Charles Lory. Kilian had one of the first seismographs installed at Grenoble which recorded from 1892 to 1909. He received the Gaudry gold medal of the French geological society in 1921. Kilian married Antoinette Boissy d'Anglas in 1894 and they had two daughters, Mathide and Magali; and two sons, Robert, who became a navy officer, and Conrad Kilian who became a geologist and Saharan explorer. Kilian died from an undiagnosed infection. A street in Grenoble and an amphitheater in the University are named in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilian, Wilfrid 1862 births 1925 deaths French geologists