Paul-Marie de Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle (7 October 1873 - 2 January 1957) was a

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 ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

entomologist 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 ...

, and

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 ...

. He made numerous natural history expeditions to northern Africa. He donated his various collections to 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 ...

in France. He was the second son of Henri Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle (1838–1877), mayor of

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, France. His older brother was Henri de Peyerimhoff (1871–1953), a French civil servant and industrialist. Peyerimhoff obtained his education at the Collège Saint-Sigisbert in Nancy, and later at the École des Eaux et Forêts in the same city. In 1896 he was appointed to the Eaux et Forêts of Senones (in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

). It was here, while making his first investigations into the cave fauna of the Lower Alps, that Peyerimhoff became friends with J. Sainte-Claire Deville, at that time an artillery lieutenant, but who would go on to become a noted entomologist. Peyerimhoff later moved to Algeria to work at the Forest Research Station there. In 1935, he was appointed director of the institution, a role that he kept until his retirement in 1937. At that point, Peyerimhoff was an honorary inspector general of the Water and Forests Department and also an officer of the

Legion of Honor 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. During World War II, he was called to direct the Forest Research Station du Bois de Boulogne in Algeria. Only in 1950, due to illness, did Peyerimhoff finally abandon his interests in this area.

Abbreviation (botany)

(See the list of all genres and species described by this author in

IPNI The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It in ...

References

External links

Wikispecies Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive open content catalogue of all species; the project is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public. Jimmy Wales s ...

has an article about Paul de Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontenelle, Paul de Peyerimhoff de 1873 births 1957 deaths 20th-century French botanists French entomologists 19th-century French botanists