Jean Théodore Delacour (26 September 1890 – 5 November 1985) was a French
ornithologist
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
and aviculturist. He later became American. He was renowned for not only discovering but also rearing some of the rarest birds in the world. He established very successful aviaries twice in his life, stocked with birds from around the world, including those that he obtained on expeditions to Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. His first aviary in Villers-Bretonneux was destroyed in World War One. The second one that he established at Clères was destroyed in World War Two. He moved to the United States of America where he worked on avian systematics and was one of the founders of the International Committee for Bird Protection (later
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
). One of the birds he discovered was the
imperial pheasant, later identified as a hybrid between the
Vietnamese pheasant and the
silver pheasant
The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China. It is introduced on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neuquén, Argenti ...
.
Life and work
Delacour was born 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 ...
into an aristocratic family and grew up on the family estate at Villiers near Amiens where he was fascinated by the orchids and ornamental birds in the castle park. With the money he received from his family (his father died in 1905), he established a private zoo in
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
. He attended schools in Paris where he spent time in the natural history museum and received a doctorate in biology from the
Université Lille Nord de France. He maintained 1,345 birds of 344 species in 1916.
Delacour served in the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, a war which devastated the family estate, as well as killing his only surviving brother. He was so shocked by the inhumanity that he swore not to have a family and moved to England for its peace. He however decided to return to France and bought the Chateau de
Clères in Normandy where he set about making a menagerie. It was so well known that the 9th International Ornithological Congress was held in 1938 in the nearby town of
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
. One of the visitors to his aviary was
Pierre Jabouille, the French administrator for Annam, a part of Indochina. On the latter's invitation, Delacour went on numerous scientific expeditions to
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
, particularly
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
,
as well as to
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, the
Guianas
The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...
and
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 ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Chateau Clères was bombed by the German
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
on 7 June 1940. Most of his library, animals in his collection and the castle were destroyed, but his manager Frank E. Fooks escaped.
Delacour was saved by Belgians and Frenchmen and escaped to Vichy.
Erwin Stresemann
Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most comprehe ...
, a good friend and admirer of Delacour heard of the fate of the zoo and attempted to ensure the safety of the remaining animals through the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
. Delacour meanwhile fled through Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier and Lisbon, reaching New York City on Christmas Day 1940. His American friends found him a job, his first, at the Bronx Zoo and the Museum of Natural History at New York. Delacour lived in the United States, working as a technical adviser for the
New York Zoological Society
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
(now known as the
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...
) as well as on avian
systematics
Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...
at the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
examining many enigmatic genera such as ''
Hypocolius'' and ''
Picathartes''. In 1952, he became director of the
Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art, retiring in 1960. After the war ended he divided his time seasonally, spending every summer from 1946 at his estate at Clères where he organized the rebuilding of his zoo through his assistant F. E. Fook and with assistance from Sir
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservation movement, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and Sportsperson, sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Fal ...
,
Alfred Ezra and the Duke of Bedford. It was opened in May 1947 with the French Prime Minister taking part in the inauguration. The collection was eventually donated to the
Museum 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 ...
in 1967. He was a co-founder of the International Council for Bird Preservation, serving as its president from 1938 to 1958. Delacour spent his winters in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles where he served from 1952 to 1960 as the director of the County Museum of History, Science and Art. Spending all his time and resources on his bird collections, he never married. He had trained as an operatic singer and was particularly fond of Moussorgsky's compositions.
Delacour was reliant on a wheelchair in later life. He lived with his mother who died in 1954 at the age of 94. In his autobiography ''"The Living Air"'' he wrote that humans would eventually annihilate all life on earth.
Taxon named in his honor
Delacour is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n snake, ''
Plagiopholis delacouri''.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Delacour", p. 68).]
''
Oreoglanis delacouri'' is a species of catfish in the family
Sisoridae found in
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
and
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 ...
Bibliography
Apart from many papers in the ornithological literature, particularly in the ''Avicultural Magazine'', Delacour wrote or cowrote several books including:
* 1931 – ''Les Oiseaux de L'Indochine Française'' (4 vols)
* 1945 – ''Birds of the Philippines'' (with
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr ( ; ; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and ...
)
* 1947 – ''Birds of Malaysia''
* 1951 – ''The Pheasants of the World''
* 1951–64 – ''The Waterfowl of the World'' (4 vols) - with paintings by Sir Peter Scott
* 1959 – ''Wild Pigeons and Doves''
* 1966 – ''The Living Air: The Memoirs of an Ornithologist'' (autobiography)
* 1973 – ''Curassows and Related Birds'' (with
Dean Amadon)
References
External links
Delacour Memorial Issue of the'' Avicultural Magazine'' (1988)*
The Spirit of Jean Delacour lives on
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delacour, Jean Theodore
1890 births
1985 deaths
American ornithologists
French emigrants to the United States
French ornithologists
Zookeepers
People associated with the American Museum of Natural History
Lille University of Science and Technology alumni
20th-century American zoologists
20th-century French zoologists