Ours-Pierre-Armand Petit-Dufrénoy (5 September 1792 – 20 March 1857) was a French
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
and
mineralogist
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
.
Life
He was born at
Sevran
Sevran () is a commune in the French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris.
Geography
Sevran is located northeast of the Boulevard Périphérique.
, in the ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
'' of
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.Imperial Lyceum in 1811, he studied until 1813 at the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
, and then entered the
Corps des mines
The ''Corps des mines'' is the foremost technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is composed of the state industrial engineers. The Corps is attached to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Its purpose is to e ...
. He subsequently assisted in the management of the
École des Mines
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scal ...
, of which he was professor of
mineralogy
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
and afterwards director. He was also professor of geology at the
École des Ponts et Chaussées
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
.
In conjunction with Élie de Beaumont in 1841 he published a great
geological map
A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock (geology), Rock units or stratum, geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bed (geology), Bedding planes and structural features such ...
of France, the result of investigations carried on during thirteen years (1823-1836). Five years (1836-1841) were spent in writing the text to accompany the map, the publication of the work with two quarto volumes of text extending from 1841-1848; a third volume was issued in 1873. The two authors had already together published ''Voyage Métallurgique en Angleterre'' (1827, 2nd ed. 1837-1839), ''Mémoires pour servir a une description géologique de la France'', in four vols. (1830-1838), and a ''Mémoire'' on
Cantal
Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint ...
(1833).
Other literary productions of Dufrénoy are an account of the
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
mines of the eastern
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
(1834), and a treatise on mineralogy (3 vols. and atlas, 1844-1845; 2nd ed., 4 vols. and atlas, 1856-1859), in which the geological relations as well as the physical and chemical properties of
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
s were dealt with; he likewise contributed numerous papers to the ''Annales des mines'' and other scientific publications, one of the most interesting of which is entitled ''Des terrains volcaniques des environs de Naples''. He occupied the chair of mineralogy of the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...
from 1847 to 1857.
With André Brochant de Villiers and Elie de Beaumont, he visited England to study processes for mining and metallurgical production. Their observations were published in ''Les Annales des Mines''. As an eminent professor of mineralogy, Dufrénoy returned to London to acquire the mineral collection created by Abbé Haüy, one of the founders of crystallography, and this acquisition lead to the mineralogical collection of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle becoming one of the world's best.
Dufrénoy was a member of the Academy of Sciences, a commander of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
, and an inspector-general of mines. In 1843 he received, along with Élie de Beaumont, the
Wollaston medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.
The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), t ...
from the
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
. In 1845 the newly discovered mineral dufrenoysite was named after him. There is a street in Paris named in his honor.
Minerals described by Dufrénoy
* ''confolensite'' — synonym for
halloysite
Halloysite is an aluminosilicate clay mineral with the empirical formula Al2Si2O5(OH)4. Its main constituents are oxygen (55.78%), silicon (21.76%), aluminium (20.90%), and hydrogen (1.56%). Halloysite typically forms by hydrothermal alteration ...
* ''manganèse silicaté rose'' — synonym for
rhodonite
Rhodonite is a manganese silicate minerals, inosilicate, (Mn, Fe, Mg, Ca)SiO3 and member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals, crystallizing in the triclinic system. It commonly occurs as cleavable to compact masses with a rose-red color (the name ...
* ''fer carbonaté'', 1827 — (synonym for chalybite), mixture of
siderite
Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and ...
and carbonaceous clays
* '' huréaulite'', 1829
* ''nussièrite'', 1835 — synonym for phosphohedyphaneAnnales des Mines troisième série Tome VIII, Paris 1835 p.243