Jean Dorst (7 August 1924 – 8 August 2001) was a French ornithologist. Dorst was born at

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

and studied biology and paleontology at the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. In 1947 he joined the staff 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 ...

. He succeeded

Jacques Berlioz Jacques Berlioz (9 December 1891, Paris – 21 December 1975) was a French zoologist and ornithologist, specializing in hummingbirds. He was a grand-nephew of composer Hector Berlioz (1803–1869). Berlioz was born in Paris, where the family h ...

as chairman of Mammifères et Oiseaux in 1964, and was elected as director of the museum in 1975, resigning in 1985 to protest against government reforms of the museum. Dorst was a member of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

, one of the founders and second president of the

Charles Darwin Foundation The Charles Darwin Foundation ( Spanish: ''Fundación Charles Darwin'') was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is use ...

for the Galapagos, president of the 16th

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IOC), and vice president of the Commission of Protection of Threatened Species of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN). Dorst was one of the writers of the documentary '' Le Peuple Migrateur'' (''Winged Migration''), and the film is dedicated to him. A companion volume of photographs and essays was published in 2003.

Selected publications

* ''Les Migrations des oiseaux'', 1956, Payot, "Petite bibliothèque", 1956, réédition 1962 ** ''The Migrations of Birds'', 1962, Heinemann, trans. by Constance D. Sherman, with a foreword by Roger Tory Peterson * ''Les Animaux voyageurs'', 1964 * ''Avant que nature meure'', 1965 (translated into 17 language) ** ''Before Nature Dies'', 1970, Collins, trans. by Constance Sherman * ''L'Amérique du Sud et L'Amérique Centrale'', 1969, Hachette ** ''South American and Central America'', 1967, Random House * ''La Nature dé-naturée'', Le Seuil, coll. "Points / Essais", 1970, 188 p. (abridged version of ''Avant que nature meure'') * ''Guide des mammifères d'Afrique : Des rats à trompe aux éléphants'', illustré par Pierre Dandelot, Delachaux et Niestlé * ''Les Oiseaux dans leur milieu'', 1971, Éditions Rencontre, Lausanne, 383 p. * ''La Vie des oiseaux'', 2 tomes, 1971, Éditions Rencontre, Lausanne, 767 p. ** ''The Life of Birds'', 2 vols., 1974, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London Dennis Puleston, "The Life of Birds. Volumes I and II. Jean Dorst, trans. I. C. J. Galbraith ," ''

The Quarterly Review of Biology ''The Quarterly Review of Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. It was established in 1926 by Raymond Pearl. In the 1960s it was purchased by the Stony Brook Foundation when the editor H. Bentley Glass be ...

'' 50, no. 3 (Sep. 1975): 334–335. * Action des pollutions sur les équilibres biologiques et sur l'homme- Tome 1 (Tract des jeunes Naturalistes, mars 1974) (www.jeunesnaturalistes.org). * Action des pollutions sur les équilibres biologiques et sur l'homme- Tome 2 (Tract des jeunes Naturalistes, mars 1974) (www.jeunesnaturalistes.org). * ''L'Univers de la vie'', Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1975 * ''La Force du vivant'', 1979, Flammarion (Paris), 265 p. * ''Amazonnia'', 1987 * ''Asia Sud-Oriental'', 1987 ** ''Southeast Asia'', 1992, Steck-Vaught (juvenile audience – description of wildlife, habitats, and ecological niches in SE Asia) * ''Les Oiseaux ne sont pas tombés du ciel'', J. P. De Monza, 1995, Rééd. 2001 * ''La Faune en péril'', avec Gaëtan du Chatenet, Delachaux et Niestlé, 1998 * ''Et si on parlait de la vie ? – Propos d'un naturaliste'', avec Sébastien Ripari, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1999 * ''Voyages – Trois siècles d'explorations naturalistes'', avec Tony Rice et Patrice Leraut, Delachaux et Niestlé, 1999 * ''Dictionnaire de biologie'', avec Jean-Louis Morère et Raymond Pujol, Frison Roche, 2002 * ''Le Peuple migrateur'' avec Jean-François Mongibeaux et Jacques Perrin, Le Seuil, 2002

References

Obituary in The Auk
French ornithologists 1924 births 2001 deaths Members of the French Academy of Sciences Scientists from Mulhouse 20th-century French zoologists National Museum of Natural History (France) people University of Paris alumni {{France-zoologist-stub