Augustin Alexis Damour (19 July 1808, 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 ...

– 22 September 1902, in Paris) was a French

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

who was also interested in

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

Biography

In 1827 he studied under

Alexandre Brongniart Alexandre Brongniart (5 February 17707 October 1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil conten ...

at the

Muséum 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 Paris, and up until 1854, worked for the Ministère des affaires étrangères. Afterwards, he devoted himself to mineralogical research, achieving fame for his research involving the

chemical composition A chemical composition specifies the identity, arrangement, and ratio of the chemical elements making up a compound by way of chemical and atomic bonds. Chemical formulas can be used to describe the relative amounts of elements present in a com ...

of many different minerals.The Mineralogical Record
Augustin Alexis Damour Collection (biography)Prosopo
Sociétés savantes de France In addition to his solo analyses of various minerals, with

Jean-Baptiste Boussingault Jean-Baptiste Joseph Dieudonné Boussingault (2 February 1801 – 11 May 1887) was a French chemist who made significant contributions to agricultural science, petroleum science and metallurgy. Biography Jean-Baptiste Boussingault – an agric ...

, he studied

obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

under high temperatures, and with

Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville (11 March 18181 July 1881) was a French chemist. He was born in the island of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies, where his father was French consul. Together with his elder brother Charles, he was educate ...

, he investigated the nature of

columbite Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate, with a general chemical formula of , is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium. It has a submetallic luster, a high density, and is a niobate of iron and manganese. Niobite ...

. Also, he is credited with the discovery of numerous new mineral species;

faujasite Faujasite (FAU-type zeolite) is a mineral group in the zeolite family of silicate minerals. The group consists of faujasite-Na, faujasite-Mg and faujasite-Ca. They all share the same basic formula by varying the amounts of sodium, magnesium and ...

bertrandite Bertrandite is a beryllium sorosilicate hydroxide mineral with composition: Be4Si2O7(OH)2. Bertrandite is a colorless to pale yellow orthorhombic mineral with a hardness of 6–7. It is commonly found in beryllium rich pegmatites and is in part ...

jacobsite Jacobsite is a manganese iron oxide mineral. It is in the spinel group and forms a solid solution series with magnetite. The chemical formula is (Mn,Mg)Fe2O4 or with Redox, oxidation states and substitutions: (Mn2+,Fe2+,Mg)(Fe3+,Mn3+)2O4.

and alluaudite, to name a few. In 1854 he named the mineral

descloizite Descloizite is a rare mineral species consisting of basic lead and zinc vanadium, vanadate, , crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system and isomorphous with olivenite. Appreciable gallium and germanium may also be incorporated into the cr ...

in honor of

Alfred Des Cloizeaux Alfred Louis Olivier Legrand Des Cloizeaux (17 October 18176 May 1897) was a French mineralogist. Des Cloizeaux was born at Beauvais, in the department of Oise. He studied with Jean-Baptiste Biot at the Collège de France. He became professor of ...

. In 1845

Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse (3 February 181724 March 1881) was a French geologist and mineralogist. He is credited for inventing the Delesse principle in stereology. Education and career Delesse was born at Metz. At the age of twenty ...

named a variety of

muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...

, "damourite", in his honor.Mindat.org
Damourite In 1857 he was appointed president of the

Société géologique de France The Société géologique de France (SGF) is a French learned society founded on 17 March 1830. As of 2006, it counts 1,200 members. History At its creation, its statutes indicate is to "compete for the advancement of Earth Sciences and Planets, ...

, and in 1881, by way of a recommendation from

Wolfgang Franz von Kobell Wolfgang Xavier Franz Ritter von Kobell (19 July 180311 November 1882) was a German mineralogist and writer of short stories and poems in Bavarian dialect. Biography Kobell was born in Munich, Bavaria (where he also died), son of the painter ...

, he became a member of the

Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

. His collections are held by the

Muséum de Toulouse The Muséum de Toulouse (, MHNT) is a museum of natural history in Toulouse, France. It is located in the Busca-Montplaisir neighborhood of the city, houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items, and has some of exhibition space. I ...

Gallery

Image:Damourite.jpg, Damourite - Kårarvet, Suède Damour collection MHNT Image:Hache Carcassonne Global Fond.jpg, Polished

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

axe Damour collection MHNT Image:Diorite-Reims-Damour 2.jpg, Polished Neolithic axe Damour collection MHNT Image:Hache 221.1 Prespective.fond.JPG, Neolithic axe Damour collection MHNT

References

Biographie de Alexis Damour sur le site de la Société Géologique de France
par Jean Gaudant.

External links

IDREF.fr
Bibliographical works by Augustin Alexis Damour. French prehistorians French geologists French mineralogists 1808 births 1902 deaths Scientists from Paris {{Archaeologist-stub