Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geography. The ''Cordillera Claudio Gay'' in the Atacama Region of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

is named after him. He founded the Chilean National Museum of Natural History, its first director was another Frenchman Jean-François Dauxion-Lavaysse.

Research and travels

He first went to Paris to study medicine, but he quickly abandoned this idea to become a researcher in natural history. In 1828, he went to

to teach physics and natural history at a college in Santiago. In 1829, he accepted a position as a researcher for the Chilean government to carry out a scientific survey of the country. He returned to France in 1832, and gave his collections to the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris. He returned to Chile in 1834 and explored the country again for four years. After having visited

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

in 1839, he lived in Santiago, where he wrote the multi-volume ''Historia fisica y politica de Chile''. In 1841, Chile conferred the Chilean nationality to him, and his opus work was published by the Chilean government between 1844 and 1871. Gay returned to France in 1843, and in May, 1856, he was elected a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

. He made a journey through

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and

Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...

from 1856 to 1858. At the end of 1858, he was sent by the

to study the mining system of the United States. He returned to France in 1860, and in 1863, he journeyed to Chile for the last time.

Honours

* Awarded

Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations The Grande Médaille d’Or des Explorations et Voyages de Découverte (Great Gold Medal of Exploration and Journeys of Discovery) has been awarded since 1829 by the Société de Géographie of France for journeys whose outcomes have enhanced geog ...

by the Société de Géographie, 1845 * Titular of the French

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

* Corresponding member of the

(Paris) * Elected to the

in 1856. He is commemorated in the name of a number of plants and animals, including the flower '' Montiopsis gayana'' and the

rufous-bellied seedsnipe The rufous-bellied seedsnipe (''Attagis gayi'') is a bird in suborder Scolopaci of order Charadriiformes, the shorebirds. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The rufous-bellied seedsnipe share ...

''Attagis gayi''. The journal of the Botanical Society of Chile, ''Gayana'', is named in his honour and published by the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

Works

* ''Noticias sobre las islas de Juan Fernandez'', Valparaiso, 1840 * ''Historia física y política de Chile'', Paris, 1844–1848 * ''Origine de la pomme de terre'', Paris, 1851 * ''Atlas de la historia física y política de Chile'', Paris, 1854 * ''Triple variation de l'aiguille d'amiante dans les parties Ouest de l'Amerique'', Paris, 1854 * ''Carte générale du Chili'', Paris, 1855 * ''Considérations sur les mines du Pérou, comparées aux mines du Chili'', Paris, 1855 * ''Notes sur le Brasil, Buenos Ayres, et Rio de Janeiro'', Paris, 1856 * ''Rapport à l'académie des sciences sur les mines des États-Unis'', Paris, 1861

References

Sources

*Marie-Louise Bauchot, Jacques Daget & Roland Bauchot, «Ichthyology in France at the Beginning of the 19th Century: The “Histoire Naturelle des Poissons“ of Cuvier (1769–1832) and Valenciennes (1794–1865)» in ''Collection building in ichthyology and herpetology'', T.W. Pietsch, W. D. Anderson (dir.), American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1997: 27-80.

External links