Félix Guignot was a French physician and entomologist, born on 16 November 1882 in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. After studying medicine at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

he established a private practice in his hometown of Avignon. He practiced family medicine and

Obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

. The region around Avignon provided many excellent opportunities to collect water beetles, including large rivers and the

Camargue The Camargue (, also , , ; ) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''P ...

wetlands. His first entomological article, the description of '' Siettitia avenionensis'', was published in 1925 in the Bulletin of the Entomological Society of France. Guignot found the specimen for this description in a basin of water pumped from a farm well, which he had requested while delivering a baby at the farm. Through his publications of 188 articles Guignot became a recognized expert on hydr

adephaga The Adephaga (from Greek ἀδηφάγος, ''adephagos'', "gluttonous") are a suborder of beetles, and with more than 40,000 recorded species in 10 families, the second-largest of the four beetle suborders. Members of this suborder are collecti ...

n water beetles. His classic work, ''The Hydrocanthares of France'', won the 1932 Dollfus prize of the

Entomological Society of France Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. His contributions to science include the description of 514 new species, as well as his entomological collection, which is now housed in the French

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 ...

. Guignot was a founding member of the ''Société d’étude des Sciences naturelles de Vaucluse''. He served as president of this society for nearly 31 years between 1929 and 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guignot, Felix 1882 births 1959 deaths French entomologists French obstetricians Coleopterists Physicians from Avignon University of Montpellier alumni 20th-century French zoologists

See also

References