Pierre Berthier (; 3 July 1782,

Nemours Nemours () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Geography Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c. south of Melun, on the Moret–Lyon railway. Nemours – Saint-Pierre ...

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

– 24 August 1861) was a French

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and mining engineer. Pierre Berthier was born in

. After studying at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, he went to the École des Mines, where he became chief of the laboratory in 1816. In 1821, while working in the village of

Les Baux-de-Provence Les Baux-de-Provence (; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Lei Bauç de Provença), commonly called Baux, is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regio ...

, in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, he discovered the rock

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

, named for the place of its discovery. He also discovered the mineral Berthierite, which was named after him. In addition to numerous contributions in mineralogy and mining, Berthier is also noted for his research into blast furnaces and for the utilization of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

s by plants. He was paralyzed by an accident in 1858. The detailed register of homosexuals, then maintained by the Paris police prefecture, mention him as a lover of soldiers.

Awards

Pierre Berthier was elected a member of the

Académie des 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 th ...

in 1825. In 1828, he became a ''chevalier'' of the Legion of Honor. His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

References

* 1782 births 1861 deaths People from Nemours French geologists École Polytechnique alumni LGBT scientists from France Members of the French Academy of Sciences Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur {{geologist-stub