Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (18 March 1800 – 29 November 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geography. The ''Cordillera Claudio Gay'' in the Atacama Region of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

is named after him. He founded the Chilean National Museum of Natural History, its first director was another Frenchman Jean-François Dauxion-Lavaysse.

Research and travels

Gay first went to Paris to study medicine, but he quickly abandoned this idea to become a researcher in natural history. In 1828, he went to

to teach physics and natural history at a college in Santiago. In 1829, he accepted a position as a researcher for the Chilean government to carry out a scientific survey of the country. He returned to France in 1832, and gave his collections to the

Muséum national 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. His botanical specimens can now be found throughout the world, including at the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.56 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known ...

(MEL),

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

. He returned to Chile in 1834 and explored the country again for four years. After having visited

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in 1839, he lived in Santiago, where he wrote the multi-volume ''Historia fisica y politica de Chile''. In 1841, Chile conferred the Chilean nationality to him, and his opus work was published by the Chilean government between 1844 and 1871. Gay returned to France in 1843, and in May, 1856, he was elected a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of 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 method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

. He made a journey through

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Tartary Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China, ...

from 1856 to 1858. At the end of 1858, he was sent by the

to study the mining system of the United States. He returned to France in 1860, and in 1863, he journeyed to Chile for the last time.

Honours

* Awarded Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations by the Société de Géographie, 1845 * Titular of the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Corresponding member of the

(Paris) * Elected to the

in 1856. He is commemorated in the name of a number of plants and animals, including the

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

'' Degelia gayana,'' the flowering plant '' Montiopsis gayana,'' the rufous-bellied seedsnipe ''Attagis gayi''. The journal of the Botanical Society of Chile, '' Gayana. Botánica'', is named in his honour and published by the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

Works

* ''Noticias sobre las islas de Juan Fernandez'', Valparaiso, 1840 * ''Historia física y política de Chile'', Paris, 1844–1848 * ''Origine de la pomme de terre'', Paris, 1851 * ''Atlas de la historia física y política de Chile'', Paris, 1854 * ''Triple variation de l'aiguille d'amiante dans les parties Ouest de l'Amerique'', Paris, 1854 * ''Carte générale du Chili'', Paris, 1855 * ''Considérations sur les mines du Pérou, comparées aux mines du Chili'', Paris, 1855 * ''Notes sur le Brasil, Buenos Ayres, et Rio de Janeiro'', Paris, 1856 * ''Rapport à l'académie des sciences sur les mines des États-Unis'', Paris, 1861

References

Sources

*Marie-Louise Bauchot, Jacques Daget & Roland Bauchot, «Ichthyology in France at the Beginning of the 19th Century: The “Histoire Naturelle des Poissons“ of Cuvier (1769–1832) and Valenciennes (1794–1865)» in ''Collection building in ichthyology and herpetology'', T.W. Pietsch, W. D. Anderson (dir.), American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1997: 27-80.

External links