Henri Filhol Henri Filhol (13 May 1843 – 28 April 1902) was a French

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

, malacologist and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. He was the son of Édouard Filhol (1814-1883),

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the Muséum de Toulouse. After receiving his early education in Toulouse, he moved to

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 ...

, where he obtained doctorates in medicine and science. In 1879 he was appointed professor of

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 ...

at the Faculty of Toulouse. From 1894 to 1902 he occupied the chair of comparative animal

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

at 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

. In 1897 he became a member of the '' Académie des sciences''. In the field of

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 ...

, he performed important studies of fossilized mammals in the phosphorites in

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

.Henri Filhol (1843-1902)- Gloubik Sciences. He served as the expedition doctor and naturalist on the French 1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Campbell Island, with Filhol Peak on the island being named after him.Tee, Garry J
Science on the Map: Places in New Zealand Named After Scientists
'' The Rutherford Journal''. In 1883 with

Alphonse Milne-Edwards Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist, ornithologist, and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who ...

, Léon Vaillant, Edmond Perrier and others, he embarked on a scientific journey aboard the Talisman.

Filhol's Collection in the Muséum de Toulouse

Adapis parisiensis MHNT PAL 2013 0 1014 Esamps 46 Oligocène Filhol.jpg, ''Adapis parisiensis'' Hyaenodon Filholi MHNT PAL 2013 0 1013 1 3 Filhol Caylus Oligocène.jpg, ''Hyaenodon filholi'' Canis lupus Canine percée MHNT PRE 2010.0.12.2 Henri Filhol.jpg, Wolf Canine adornment Magdalenian Gourdan-Polignan Filhol - Pendeloque en bois de renne - MHNT GOU 99 24 87.jpg, Pendant in reindeer antlers Gourdan-Polignan

References

1843 births 1902 deaths French malacologists French naturalists French paleontologists French zoologists Physicians from Toulouse 19th-century French physicians Academic staff of the University of Toulouse Members of the French Academy of Sciences Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery National Museum of Natural History (France) people 19th-century French naturalists Scientists from Toulouse 19th-century French biologists {{France-scientist-stub