Aloïs Humbert (22 September 1829 – 13 May 1887) was a Swiss

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who specialized in the study of

myriapod Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. Although molecular evidence and similar fossils suggests a diversifi ...

s. He also described new vertebrates (fishes, reptiles, mammals), molluscs and flatworms.

Biography

Humbert was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

on 22 September 1829, the son of Augustin Pyramus Humbert, a notary and politician, and Suzanne Charlotte Du Roveray. He studied natural sciences at the Academy of Geneva and at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

. In 1854, Humbert began working as a curator at the

Natural History Museum of Geneva The Natural History Museum of Geneva (in French: ') is a natural history museum in Geneva, Switzerland. Louis Jurine’s collections of Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera are held by the museum. Other displays include a coll ...

, where he worked closely with François Jules Pictet. He was involved in scientific missions to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

; his work focused in particular on the fossils of Lebanon, the fauna of Ceylon,

myriapods Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. Although molecular evidence and similar fossils suggests a diversifi ...

and geography. While in the Middle East, Humbert made important discoveries of

fossil fish Fish began evolving about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish line ...

.Negotiations of the Swiss Natural Science ..., Volumes 70-72
by Swiss Society for Natural Sciences Humbert was appointed substitute teacher at the Academy of Geneva in 1864, the same year he married Jeanne Françoise Adélaïde Rochette, daughter of the Mayor of Bernex, Jean François Rochette. He worked on the catalogues of the Natural History Museum and the

Bibliothèque de Genève The Bibliothèque de Genève (BGE, English: Geneva Library, Library of Geneva), founded in 1559, was known as ''Bibliothèque publique et universitaire'' (BPU, English: Public and University Library) from 1907 to 2006. It occupies different buil ...

. In 1876, on behalf of the recently founded

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, Humbert organized a relief society for wounded soldiers in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

during the

Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878) The Montenegrin–Ottoman War ( sr-Cyrl, Црногорско-турски рат, Crnogorsko-turski rat, "Montenegrin-Turkish War"), also known in Montenegro as the Great War (, ''Velji rat''), was fought between the Principality of Montenegro ...

. He died in Onex on 13 May 1887, aged 57.

Selected works

* ''Monographie des chéloniens de la mollasse suisse'', 1856. * ''Description de quelques espèces nouvelles de planaires terrestres de Ceylan'', 1862 – Description of some new species of terrestrial

planarian Planarians (triclads) are free-living flatworms of the class Turbellaria, order Tricladida, which includes hundreds of species, found in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats.pp 3., "Planarians (the popular name for the group as a whole ...

s from Ceylon. * ''Essai sur les myriapodes de Ceylan'', 1865 – Essay on myriapods of Ceylon. * ''Nouvelles recherches sur les poissons fossiles du Mont Liban'', 1866 (with François Jules Pictet) – New research on fossil fish from

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

. * ''Description de divers myriapodes du Musée de Vienne'', 1869 – Description of various myriapods at the

Vienna Museum The Vienna Museum ( or ''Museen der Stadt Wien'') is a group of museums in Vienna consisting of the museums of the history of the city. In addition to the main building in Karlsplatz, the group includes some locations, numerous specialised museu ...

. * ''Études sur les myriapodes et les insectes'', 1870 (with

Henri de Saussure Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry (given name), Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Cons ...

) – Studies of myriapods and insects. *
Description du Niphargus puteanus var. Forelii
', 1876 – On '' Niphargus puteanus''. * ''Myriapodes des environs de Genève'', 1893 (posthumous release, published by Henri de Saussure) – Myriapods in the vicinity of Geneva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humbert, Alois 1829 births 1887 deaths Scientists from Geneva Swiss naturalists Swiss paleontologists 19th-century Swiss zoologists 19th-century naturalists Myriapodologists University of Geneva alumni University of Montpellier alumni Academic staff of the University of Geneva Red Cross personnel