Émilien Dumas
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Jean Louis George Émilien Dumas (16 october 1804 – 21 September 1870) was a French scholar, palaeontologist, and geologist.


Biography

Born to a Protestant family of the bourgeoisie in
Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Morges Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...
, Switzerland, then at
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, where his passion for the natural sciences matured. He returned to his homeland in 1824 following the death of his mother. Embarking on a career in the sciences, he went to Paris and studied at the
Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
, the Ecole des Mines de Paris and the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...
, and with
Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...
,
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (; 15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theorie ...
, and
Adrien-Henri de Jussieu Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (23 December 1797 – 29 June 1853) was a French botanist. Born in Paris as the son of botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1824 with a treatise of the plant family Eupho ...
. His education in the natural sciences was well rounded, and he threw himself with equal passion into
Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
,
Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...
, and
Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
, as well as engaging in the contemporary debate over
Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...
. In 1828, he returned to Sommières, where he married Pauline Borel, a wealthy heiress from
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
, and daughter of a silk manufacturer. The same year, he unveiled a rich paleontological dig site at Pondres (Gard) whose human and animal remains fueled Lamarckist arguments, particularly in the field of
Archaeozoology Zooarchaeology or archaeozoology merges the disciplines of zoology and archaeology, focusing on the analysis of animal remains within archaeological sites. This field, managed by specialists known as zooarchaeologists or faunal analysts, examines ...
He surveyed his region with great patience and tenacity over a period of 20 years, to produce a geological map of the
département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
of Gard. During a long voyage in the 1860s he studied the geography of southern Europe. As an avid collector, he cultivated his curiosity throughout his life, and the Natural History Museum at
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
now preserves a large part of his numerous collections spanning the fields of Greek antiquities,
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
, and
geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
. The missing piece in this portrait of the "Explorer of Gard" is his taste for theater and acting. He was a willing participant as well as observer, which was considered by his contemporaries as incompatible with his role as a scientist. He died on September 21, 1870, in Ax-sur-Ariège.


Works

* Émilien Dumas, , 1876


Bibliography

* Édouard Dumas, ''Émilien Dumas et l'empreinte de Sommières'', Lacour-Ollé, 1993. * « Émilien Dumas, l'explorateur du Gard », Catalogue de l'expostion organisée à l'occasion du bicentenaiee de sa naissance, Musée d'Histoire naturelle de Nîmes.


External links


An article by the Sommières Association (French)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumas, Emilien 1804 births 1870 deaths French geologists French paleontologists Lamarckism