Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno (; 15 April 1804 – 14 July 1884) was a French

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and one time

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, as well as a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and author. He considered himself a student of

Cauchy Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy ( , , ; ; 21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus (thereby creating real a ...

Life

Moigno was born at

Guémené-sur-Scorff Guémené-sur-Scorff (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Guémené-sur-Scorff are called ''Guémenois''. Geography Guémené is situated on the Scorff river and is unusual in that ...

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

, in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, on 15 April 1804. He received his early education at the Jesuit college at

Sainte-Anne-d'Auray Sainte-Anne-d'Auray (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is the third most popular pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes and Lisieux. History Sainte-Anne-d'Auray is a village in the Diocese ...

and entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

on 2 September 1822. He did his

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

studies at

Montrouge Montrouge () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased agai ...

, devoting his leisure to mathematics and physics. On the outbreak of the Revolution of 1830, he left with his fellow Jesuits for Brieg in Switzerland. There he acquired several languages, including

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. In 1836 he was appointed professor of mathematics at the College of Sainte-Geneviève, Rue des Postes, in Paris. Here he became known not only as a scholar, but also as a preacher and writer. He wrote numerous articles for the press; he was engaged on one of his best known works, "Leçons de calcul différentiel et de calcul intégral", based chiefly on

's methods, and had already published the first volume, when he left the Jesuit Order in 1843. Shortly afterwards he undertook a tour of Europe, contributing numerous letters to the journal "L'Epoque". He acted as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

of the Lycée Louis-le-Grand from 1848 to 1851. He became scientific editor of the "Presse" in 1850 and of the "Pays" in 1851 and in 1852 founded the scientific journal "Cosmos". In 1862 he founded "Les Mondes" and became associated with the clergy of

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the nor ...

. In 1873 he was appointed a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the

collegiate chapter In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college (canon law), college of canon (priest), canons, a non-monastic or secular clergy, "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-gover ...

of the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...

. He died there on 14 July 1884.

Works

Moigno was a prolific writer, an expositor of science rather than an original investigator. He also translated numerous English and Italian memoirs on science into French, and edited the . Among his works are: * (Paris, 1847–50) * (Paris, 1849) * (Paris, 1868) * (Paris, 1869) * (Paris, 1873) * (Paris, 1879–83) * (Paris, 1884) and numerous articles in the etc.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **''Cosmos'', 3rd series, VIII, 443. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moigno, Francois-Napoleon-Marie 1804 births 1884 deaths People from Guémené-sur-Scorff 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 19th-century French Jesuits Breton Roman Catholic priests Scientists from Brittany Former Jesuits Jesuit scientists

Life

Works

See also

References