Louis Antoine François Baillon (20 January 1778 – 2 December 1855) was a French

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 collector. He was born in

Montreuil-sur-Mer Montreuil-sur-Mer (; or ; ), Montreuil-on-the-Sea, is a subprefecture in the Pas-de-Calais Department in northern France. Though commonly called by this name since at least the twelfth century, it was legally known as Montreuil until 31 Decemb ...

and died in

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

Baillon's crake Baillon's crake (''Zapornia pusilla''), also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Distribution Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across the Palearctic. They used to breed in ...

is named for him, as is Baillon's shearwater and '' Baillonius bailloni''. Baillon's father, Jean-François-Emmanuel Baillon (c. 1742 – 25 October 1801), a lawyer, natural history specimen collector, and correspondent of the

Muséum 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 ...

, introduced him to

natural history 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 ...

. In 1798, Baillon began work at as an assistant at the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

, a position he relinquished following the death of his father. Afterwards, he settled in Abbeville, and like his father, became known for his correspondence with famed naturalists. In his studies, the younger Baillon maintained correspondence with

Franco Andrea Bonelli Franco Andrea Bonelli (10 November 1784 – 18 November 1830) was an Italian ornithology, ornithologist, entomologist and collector. He worked at the University of Turin and was involved in organizing the collections of the natural history museu ...

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (; 15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theorie ...

and

Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied (23 September 1782 – 3 February 1867) was a German explorer, ethnologist and natural history, naturalist. He led a pioneering expedition to southeast Brazil between 1815 and 1817, from which t ...

. During his career, he continued and developed an

ornithological 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 ...

collection that was initiated by his father, a

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

that eventually grew to 6,000 items. Baillon's collection (birds only) is now conserved in "Musée George Sand et de la Vallée noire" in

La Châtre La Châtre () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Population Personalities *It was the birthplace of Henri de Latouche and Emile Acollas. André Boillot the auto racing driver crashed here in 1932 and died from his inj ...

. In addition to birds from France, it contains exotic specimens from French voyages of exploration, notably birds from the expeditions of

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

and

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

. The single publication of L.A.F. Baillon is the ''Catalogue des Mammifères, Oiseaux, Reptiles, Poissons et Mollusques testacés marins, observés dans l'arrondissement d'Abbeville.''

References

1778 births 1851 deaths People from Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais French ornithologists 19th-century French zoologists Botanists with author abbreviations National Museum of Natural History (France) people {{ornithologist-stub