Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure (; ; 27 November 1829 – 20 February 1905) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

mineralogist 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 ...

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

specialising in studies of hymenopteroid and orthopteroid insects.

Education, career and family

Saussure's family was Christian Protestant, originating in

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. His elementary education was at Alphonse Briquet's school and then, as an adolescent, at the Hofwyl school directed by Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg. He attended the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

where he was taught by François Jules Pictet de la Rive, who introduced him to entomology. After several years of study in

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 ...

he received the degree of licentiate of the Faculty of Paris and obtained the degree of Doctor from the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

. His work concerned mainly the

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

and

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

, sometime Mtriapoda. His first paper, in 1852, concerned solitary wasps. In 1854 he traveled to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, then to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. There he met

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

. He returned to Switzerland in 1856 with collections of American insects,

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 ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

and

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

. Also interested in

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

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 ...

and

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

, he co-founded the Geographical Society of Geneva in 1858. He was also a member of the managing committee of 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 ...

, ensuring that its collections of Hymenoptera and Orthoptera became one of the best in the world. In 1872 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

. In 1873, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He had nine children including the famous linguist

Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure (; ; 26 November 185722 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is wi ...

(1857), who was his eldest son; Horace (1859-1926); Albertine Adèle (1861), named for Henri's aunt and sister-in-law; Elisabeth "Dora" Théodora (1863); Léopold (1866); René de Saussure (1868); Jeanne (c 1869); Louis Octave (1871); and Maximilien (1873).

Works

Hymenoptera

*
Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 1. Monographie des Guêpes solitaires, ou de la Tribu des Euméniens
comprenant la Classification et la Description de toutes les Espèces connues jusqu'à ce Jour, et servant de complément au Manuel de Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–128 pls ii-v, vii, x, xiv (1852). *Note sur la tribu des Masariens et principalement sur le Masaris vespiformis. ''Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr.'' (3)1: xvii-xxi (1853). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 2. Monographie des Guêpes Sociales, ou de la Tribu des Vespiens, ouvrage faisant suite à la Monographies des Guêpes Solitaires''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–96 pls 2-8, 13 (1853). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens''. Paris : Masson pp. 1–48 pls i-v (1854). *''Mélanges hyménoptérologiques''. Extrait du Tome XIV des "mémoires de la Société de Physique etc. Genève, Cherbuliez, Paris, Masson (1854). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. 2. Monographie des Guêpes Sociales, ou de la Tribu des Vespiens, ouvrage faisant suite à la Monographies des Guêpes Solitaires.'' Paris : Masson pp. 97–256 pls 9-12, 14-18, 20-24, 27-33 (1854). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens. Paris'' : Masson pp. 49–288 pls vi-xiv (1855). *''Études sur la Famille des Vespides. Troisième Partie comprenant la Monographie des Masariens et un Supplément à la Monographie des Eumeniens.'' Paris : Masson pp. 289–352 pls xv-xvi (1856). *Mélanges hyménoptérologiques. ''Mém. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 17: 171-244 (1863). *Hymenoptera. In, ''Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 den unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair.'' Zoologischer Theil. Wien : K-K Hof- und Staatsdrückerei Vol. 2(1a). 138 pp. (1867).

Orthoptera

*Revue et Magasin de Zoologie. 2(13):128 (1861) *Essai d'un système des Mantides. '' Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges.'' 3: 49-73 (1869). *Additions au système des Mantides. '' Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges.'' 3: 221-244 (1870). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 3. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 1-214 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 3. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 1-214 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Supplément au IIIme Fascicule. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 21(1): 239-336 (1871). *Mélanges Orthoptérologiques. Fasc. 4. ''Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. Genève'' 23: 1-160 (1872). *with Auguste Bormans, comte de, Lawrence Bruner; Frederick Du Cane Godman,

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English natural history, naturalist, Ornithology, ornithologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuC ...

, Albert P Morse, Alphonse Pictet, Robert Walter, Campbell Shelford, Leo Zehntner ''Biologia centrali-americana. Insecta. Orthoptera'' London, Published for the editors by R.H. Porter 1893-1909. *Saussure, H. de & Zehntner, L. ''Histoire naturelle des Blattides et Mantides''. pp. 147–244 in *Grandidier. A. (ed.) ''Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de''

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Paris : Librairie Hachette et Cie Vol. 23 Orthoptères (1895).

Notes

References

* *

External links

Henri de Saussure at Open Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saussure, Henri Swiss entomologists Swiss mineralogists University of Paris alumni University of Giessen alumni Hymenopterists Myriapodologists 1829 births 1905 deaths Henri International members of the American Philosophical Society