Ernest Amédée Barthélemy Mouchez (; 24 August 1821 – 29 June 1892) was a French
naval officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
who became director of the
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...
and launched the ill-fated ''
Carte du Ciel
The Carte du Ciel (; literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue ...
'' project in 1887.
Life
Born in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, Mouchez embarked on a career in the
French Navy
The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
as an
ensign
Ensign most often refers to:
* Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality
* Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank
Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to:
Places
* Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada
* Ensign, Ka ...
in 1843. This was a period of relative international maritime peace and much of the navy's activities were dedicated to exploration and discovery. Mouchez was initially occupied on
hydrographic studies along the coasts of
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, penetrating 320 km up the
Paraguay River
The Paraguay River (''Ysyry Paraguái'' in Guarani language, Guarani, ''Rio Paraguai'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''RÃo Paraguay'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bol ...
and exploring the
Abrolhos Islands. He improved the practice of
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...
at sea, adapting terrestrial instruments for naval use, and was especially concerned with the problems of determining
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
. He developed the use of the
theodolite
A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...
and
meridian telescope to improve the error in establishing longitude from around 30″ to 3–4″.
[Simpkins (1981)]
Attaining the rank of
post captain
Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith".
The term served to di ...
in 1868, he embarked on a series of expeditions to chart the coast of
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
.
However, in 1870, during the
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
, he was called upon to make an heroic defence of the port of
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
.
Returning to his Algerian survey, he brought it to a conclusion in 1873, when he was elected to the
Bureau des Longitudes
__NOTOC__
The ''Bureau des Longitudes'' () is a French scientific institution, founded by decree of 25 June 1795 and charged with the improvement of nautical navigation, standardisation of time-keeping, geodesy and astronomical observation. Durin ...
and, in the following year, was sponsored by the ''
Académie des sciences
The French Academy of 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 method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
'' to observe the
transit of Venus
A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as ...
from
St. Paul Island in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. On 9 December he made a sequence of superb photographic plates of the event.
In 1875, the ''Académie'' elected him a member of the
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
section and in 1878 he was promoted to
rear admiral
Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral.
Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
and awarded the role of director of the Paris Observatory. The
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
had fallen into disrepair and disrepute since the chaos of the 1870 war and the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
of 1871. Mouchez set about a programme of reconstruction but failed to persuade the government to fund a new observatory outside the centre of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
In 1887, he collaborated with
Sir David Gill to host an international astronomical conference in Paris. The principal outcome of the conference was a multi-national project to compile and index a photographic atlas of the heavens, the ''Carte du Ciel''. The project consumed massive effort over several decades before it was rendered obsolete by modern astronomical methods.
[ non.(2001)]
Mouchez died in
Wissous,
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...
.
Honours
*A statue in
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
was unveiled by
Benjamin Baillaud
Édouard Benjamin Baillaud (; 14 February 1848 – 8 July 1934) was a French astronomer.
Biography
Born in Chalon-sur-Saône, Baillaud studied at the École Normale Supérieure (1866-1869) and the University of Paris. He worked as an assi ...
in 1921.
*A Street in Paris was given his name.
References
Works
*''Recherches sur la longitude de la côte orientale de l'Amérique du sud'' (1866)
* ''Rio de la Plata. Description et instructions nautiques'' (1873)
*''Instructions nautiques sur les côtes d'Algérie'' (1879)
*''Rapport annuel de l'Observatoire de Paris'' (1885–1892)
*''La photographie astronomique à l'Observatoire de Paris et de la Carte de ciel'' (1887)
*''Instructions nautiques sur les côtes du Brésil'' (1890)
Works digitalizedon
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...
digital library
Sources
*
non.(1875) ''Notice sur les travaux scientifiques de M. Mouchez'', Paris
*
non.(1892) ''Polybiblion'', 2nd ser. 36, July–December
*
*
non.(2001) "Carte du ciel", ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'', Deluxe CDROM edition
*
*Simpkins, D. M. (1981) "Mouchez, Ernest Barthélémy", in
*Vapereau, G. (ed.) (1880) ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'', 5th ed., Paris
Catalogues of Mouchez' works
*Royal Society, ''Catalogue of Scientific Papers'', IV 498, VIII 488, X 864;
*Poggendorff, III 940, IV 1034-1035;
*''Catalogue général des livres imprimés de la Bibliothèque nationale, CXX, cols.533–538.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouchez, Amedee
1821 births
1892 deaths
19th-century French astronomers
French Navy admirals
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
French scientific instrument makers
Scientists from Madrid
Recipients of the Lalande Prize