Georges Cuvier

Baron Georges Leopold Chretien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23 1769 — May 13, 1832), French naturalist, was born at Montbéliard,wasson ofretired officer on half-pay belonging toProtestant family which had emigrated fromJura mountains onFrench-Swiss border asconsequencereligious persecution.

He early showedbent towardsinvestigationnatural phenomena,was notedhis studious habitsmarvellous memory. After spending four years atAcademyStuttgart, he acceptedpositiontutor infamily ofComte d'Héricy, who was inhabitspendingsummer near Fécamp. It thus came about that he madeacquaintance ofagriculturist, AH Tessier, who was then living at Fécamp,who wrote stronglyfavourhis protégéhis friendsParis -- withresult that Cuvier, after corresponding withwell-known naturalist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, was appointed1795 assistant toprofessorcomparative anatomy atMuseum d’Histoire Naturelle.

The National Institute was founded insame yearhe was electedmember. In 1796 he beganlecture atÉcole Centrale du Pantheon,atopening ofNational InstituteApril, he read his first palaeontological paper, which was subsequently published1800 undertitle Mémoires sur les espèces d’éléphants vivants et fossiles. In 1798 was published his first separate work,Tableau élémentaire de l’Histoire naturelle des animaux, which was an abridgmenthis courselectures atÉcole du Pantheon,may be regarded asfoundationfirstgeneral statementhis natural classification ofanimal kingdom.

In 1799 he succeeded LJM Daubenton as professornatural history inCollege de France,infollowing year he publishedLecons d’anatomie comparéc,classical work, inproductionwhich he was assisted by AMC Dumeril infirst two volumes,by GL Duvernoythree later ones. In 1802 Cuvier became titular professor atJardin des Plantes;insame year he was appointed commissary ofInstituteaccompanyinspectors generalpublic instruction. In this latter capacity he visitedsouthFrance; but he was inearly part1803 chosen perpetual secretary ofNational Institute indepartment ofphysicalnatural sciences,he consequently abandonedappointment just mentionedreturnedParis.

He now devoted himself more especiallythree linesinquiry--one dealing withstructureclassification ofmollusca,second withcomparative anatomysystematic arrangement offishes, andthirdfossil mathmalsreptiles primarily,secondarily withosteologyliving forms belonging tosame groups. His papers onmollusca began as early as 1792, but most of’ his memoirs on this branch were published inAnnales du museum between 18021815;were subsequently collected as Mémoires pour l'ervir de l’histoire etl’anatomie des mollusques, publishedone volume at Paris1817.

Indepartmentfishes, Cuvier's researches, begun1801, finally culminated inpublication ofHistoire naturelle des poissons, which contained descriptions5000 speciesfishes,wasjoint productionCuvierA Valenciennes, its publication (so far asformer was concerned) extending overyears 1828 - 1831. The departmentpalaeontology dealing withMammalia may be saidhave been essentially createdestablished by Cuvier.

In this regioninvestigation he publishedlong listmemoirs, partly relating tobonesextinct animals,partly detailingresultsobservations onskeletonsliving animals specially examined withviewthrowing light uponstructureaffinities offossil forms. Insecond category must be placednumberpapers relating toosteology ofRhinoceros Indicus,tapir, Hyrax Capensis,hippopotamus,sloths,manatee, etc. Informer category must be classed an even greater numbermemoirs, dealing withextinct mammals ofEocene bedsMontmartre,fossil specieshippopotamus,Didelphys gypsorum,Megalonyx,Megatherium,cave-hyena,extinct speciesrhinoceros,cave bear,mastodon,extinct specieselephant, fossil speciesmanateeseals, fossil formscrocodilians, chelonians, fishes, birds, etc.

The resultsCuvier's principal palaeontologicalgeological investigations were ultimately given toworld informtwo separate works. Onethese iscelebrated Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrupedes, publishedParis1812,subsequent editions18211825; andotherhis Discours sur les revolutions de la surface du globe, publishedParis1825.

But nonehis works attainedhigher reputation than his Regne animal distribué d’après son organisation,first editionwhich appearedfour octavo volumes1817, andsecondfive volumes1829 - 1830. In this classical work Cuvier embodiedresults ofwholehis previous researches onstructurelivingfossil animals. The whole ofwork was his own, withexception ofInsecta,which he was assisted by his friend PA Latreille.

Apart from his own original investigationszoologypaleontology Cuvier carried outvast amountwork as perpetual secretary ofNational Institute,as an official connectedpublic education generally;muchthis work appeared ultimately inpublished form. Thus,1808 he was placed by Napoleon uponcouncil ofImperial University,in this capacity he presided (inyears 1809, 18111813) over commissions chargedexaminestate ofhigher educational establishments indistricts beyondAlps andRhine which had been annexedFrance, andreport uponmeans by which these could be affiliated withcentral university. Three separate reports on this subject were published by him.

In his capacity, again,perpetual secretary ofInstitute, he not only preparednumberéloges historiques on deceased members ofAcademySciences, but he wasauthor ofnumberreports onhistory ofphysicalnatural sciences,most importantthese beingRapport historique sur le progrès des sciences physiques depuis 1789, published1810.

Prior tofallNapoleon (1814) he had been admitted tocouncilstate,his position remained unaffected byrestoration ofBourbons. He was elected chancellor ofuniversity,which capacity he acted as interim president ofcouncilpublic instruction, whilst he also, asLutheran, superintendedfacultyProtestant theology. In 1819 he was appointed president ofcommittee ofinterior,retainedoffice until his death.

In 1826 he was made grand officer ofLegionHonour;in 1831 he was raised by Louis Philippe torankpeerFrance,was subsequently appointed president ofcouncilstate. Inbeginning1832 he was nominated toministry ofinterior, butMay he diedParis afterbrief illness.

See PJM Flourens, Eloge historique de G. Cuvier, published as an introduction toEloges historiquesCuvier; Histoire des truvaux de Georges Cuvier (3rd ed., Paris, 1858); AP de Candolle, "Mort de G. Cuvier", Bibliothique universelle (1832, 59, p. 442); CL Laurillard, "Cuvier," Biographie universelle, supp. vol. 61 (1836); Sarah Lee, MemoirsCuvier, translated into French by T Lacordaire (1833).

This entry was originally from1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.