Jean Octave Edmond Perrier (9 May 1844 – 31 July 1921) was a French

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

born in

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Corrèze, in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle- ...

. He is known for his studies of invertebrates (

annelids The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

and

echinoderms An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larv ...

). He was the brother of zoologist Rémy Perrier (1861–1936).

Career

On advice from

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

, he studied sciences at the , where he took classes in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

from Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers (1821–1901). Afterwards he was a schoolteacher for three years at the college in

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

. In 1869 he obtained his doctorate in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

, later replacing Lacaze-Duthiers at the (1872). In 1876 he attained the chair of Natural History (

mollusks Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The num ...

, worms and

zoophytes A zoophyte (animal-plant) is an obsolete term for an organism thought to be intermediate between animals and plants, or an animal with plant-like attributes or appearance. In the 19th century they were reclassified as Radiata which included vario ...

) at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

, and in 1879 became chairman of the Société zoologique de France. In the early 1880s he participated in a series of sea expeditions, during which, he performed investigations of marine life located within the

benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

, subsequently gaining international recognition as a specialist of marine fauna. In 1892 he became a member of the

Académie des 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 ...

, and even though he was not a doctor of medicine, he became a member of the Académie nationale de médecine (1898). From 1900 to 1919 he was director of the museum of natural history, where during the same time period (1903), he succeeded

Henri Filhol Henri Filhol Henri Filhol (13 May 1843 – 28 April 1902) was a French medical doctor, malacologist and naturalist born in Toulouse. He was the son of Édouard Filhol (1814-1883), curator of the Muséum de Toulouse. After receiving his early e ...

(1843–1902) as chair of

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

. Perrier was deeply interested in the evolutionary theories of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

. In 1909 he was speaker at the inauguration of Lamarck's monument at the National Museum of Natural History. He believed Lamarck to be the true founder in regards to the theory of evolution.

Selected writings

* ''Etudes sur l'organisation des Lombriciens terrestres'', 1874 – Studies on the organization of terrestrial

earthworms An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial animal, terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (biology), class (or subclass (biology), subclass, depending on ...

. * ''La Philosophie zoologique avant Darwin'', 1884 – Zoological philosophy prior to Darwin * ''Les Coralliaires et les îles Madréporiques...'', 1887 – The Coralline islands and Madreporaria. * ''Lamarck et le transformisme actuel'', 1893. * ''Expéditions scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman pendant les années 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883'' (1902) – Scientific expeditions of the ''Travailleur'' and the ''Talisman''. * ''La Femme dans la nature, dans les moeurs dans la légende, dans la société'', 1910. * ''La Terre avant l'Histoire. Les Origines de la Vie et de l'Homme'', 1920.

Founder of the Friends of the Natural History Museum

Perrier is the main founder of the Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris society, with Léon Bourgeois as the first president in office from 1907 to 1922.Yves Laissus, "Cent ans d'histoire", ''1907-2007 - Les Amis du Muséum'', centennial special, September 2007, supplement to the quarterly publication '' Les Amis du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'', n° 230, June 2007, ISSN 1161-9104 .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrier, Edmond French zoologists 1844 births 1921 deaths Lamarckism Lycée Condorcet alumni Members of the Ligue de la patrie française People from Tulle École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences Commanders of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Agricultural Merit National Museum of Natural History (France) people

Career

Selected writings

Founder of the Friends of the Natural History Museum

References

Further reading

External links