Jean Alphonse Favre (31 March 1815 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

– 11 July 1890 in Pregny) was a Swiss

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. He was a pioneer of alpine geology and became director of the Swiss Geological Commission ''(Schweizerische Geologische Kommission)'', which was charged with creating the geological map of Switzerland. He studied natural sciences at the Academy of Geneva (1831–37), then chemistry and

mineralogy 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 ...

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 ...

(1839). From 1844 to 1852 he taught classes in geology and

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

at the Academy of Geneva, where he was a professor for many years. In 1888, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society. He specialized in geological research of the

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

and

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

, that included studies of ancient glaciers associated with those regions. His explanation of the geological structure showed that certain anomalous incidents of fossils were due to recurring interfoldings of the strata and to complex overthrust faults.

Selected works

* ''Remarques sur les anthracites des Alpes'', 1841 – Remarks on

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...

s of the Alps. * ''Considérations géologiques sur le mont Salève, et sur les terrains des environs de Genève'', 1843 – Geological considerations on Mount

Salève The Salève (), or Mont Salève, is a mountain of the French Prealps located in the department of Haute-Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is also called the "Balcony of Geneva" (French: ''Balcon de Genève''). Geography Geographically, the ...

, and the land surrounding Geneva. * ''Observations sur la position relative des terrains des Alpes suisses occidentales et des Alpes de la Savoie'', 1847 – Observations on the relative position of the terrain of the western Swiss Alps and the Alps of Savoy. * ''Essai sur la géologie des montagnes placées entre la chaîne du Jura et le lac de Genève'', 1850 – Essay on the geology of the mountains located between the Jura chain and

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

. * ''Mémoire sur les terrains liasique et keupérien de la Savoie'', 1859 – On the Liassic and

Keuper The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolomite, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Lat ...

ian terrain of Savoy. * ''Recherches géologiques dans les parties de la Savoie, du Piémont et de la Suisse voisines du Mont-Blanc'', 1867 – Geological research involving parts of Savoy, the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and the Swiss environs of Mont Blanc. * ''H.-B. de Saussure et les Alpes'', 1870 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and the Alps. * ''Description géologie du canton de Genève'' (with Eugène Risler, 1879) – Geological description of the

canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

.Favre, Alphonse (1815-1890)
IdRef

Honours

Favre Bjerg in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

was named after him by fellow Swiss geologist

Heinrich Bütler Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

(1893–1983).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favre, Alphonse 1815 births 1890 deaths Scientists from Geneva 19th-century Swiss geologists Swiss paleontologists Members of the American Philosophical Society