Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FGS FZS (19 December 1809 – 8 January 1894) was a Belgian

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 ...

and paleontologist. He has been credited with introducing the terms " mutualism" and " commensalism" into biology in 1875 and 1876 respectively.

Life

Born in

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

, he studied medicine at the State University of Leuven and studied

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 ...

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 ...

under

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

(1769–1832). In 1831, he became

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 ...

at the natural history museum in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, and from 1836 until 1894, was a professor of zoology at the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1842, he became a member of the ''Académie des sciences de Belgique'', becoming its President in 1881. In 1875, he became a foreign member of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

, and in 1884, an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. In 1843, he established one of the world's first marine laboratories and aquariums. He was the father of biologist Edouard van Beneden (1846–1910). Pierre-Joseph van Beneden died in Leuven, Belgium.

Work

Van Beneden was a specialist in the field of

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

, being known for his comprehensive studies on the development, transformation, and life-histories of parasitic worms. In 1858, a treatise on this subject won the ''Grand prix des sciences physiques'' of the Institut de France. It was published in the "International Scientific Series" (1875), under the title ''Les commensaux et les parasites dans le règne animal'' and was translated into English and German. He did extensive research in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

, and in 1843, established an

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

and marine laboratory in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. With French zoologist Paul Gervais (1816–1879), he published an important work on extinct and living

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

s titled ''Ostéographie des Cétacés, vivants et fossiles''. His interest in this matter had begun during the excavations rendered necessary by the fortifying of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, when a number of bones of fossil whales were exposed to view. His papers on the extinct species found near Antwerp were published in the ''Annales du musée royal d'histoire naturelle de Brucelles'', and with them was incorporated a description of the fossil seals which were discovered in the same area.

He introduced the term mutualism in his work ''Les Commensaux et les Parasites'' (1875). He had used the term earlier in 1873 in a communication to the Royal Academy of Belgium.

Books

A selection of books by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden with full text available.
Animal parasites and messmates
(1876)
Histoire naturelle des balénoptères
(1888)
Mémoire sur les vers intestinaux
(1858)
Recherches sur la faune littorale de Belgique: crustacés
(1861)
Les poissons des côtes de Belgique, leurs parasite et leurs commensaux

Histoire naturelle des cétacés des mers d'Europe
(1889)

Distinctions

Van Beneden attended the celebration of the tercentenary of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and was there made an honorary LL.D. He was a foreign member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and also of the Linnæan, Geological, and

Zoological 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 ...

societies of London. He was president of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1881, and was created Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold on the occasion of his professorial jubilee. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1886. He became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1859. He died in

aged 84 on January 8, 1894. He was always a devout Catholic and, as the writer of his obituary for the Royal Society particularly states, always exhibited "the widest toleration for the views of others". The extinct Carboniferous fish '' Benedenius'' is named after him, whose type species van Beneden had initially described as ''Paleoniscus deneensis''.

References

Other sources

* Brice Poreau,
Biologie et complexité : histoire et modèles du commensalisme
'. Thesis, largely based on the work by Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden. Thèse d'université, Université Lyon 1, France, 4 July 2014.''
PDF, 351 pages (in French with English abstract)

External links

Matthias Breyne et al.
''The World's very first Marine Station'' {{DEFAULTSORT:van Beneden, Pierre-Joseph 1809 births 1894 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics 19th-century Belgian zoologists Belgian paleontologists Belgian Roman Catholic writers Scientists from Mechelen Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences