Cuvier, Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert de (1769-1852) paleontologist and anatomist

Manuscript papers on 'académies d'Italie' and a translation of a paper by Cuvier.

1798-1832

7 items

MS.7904 arranged chronologically, in sections.

1769 Born in Montbéliard, in Burgundy 1784 Went to Caroline University, near Stuttgart, Germany, to study administrative, juridical, and economic sciences. Also studied natural history and comparative anatomy 1788 Education complete, served as a tutor for a French family 1795 Moved to Paris in 1795 where he was invited by French naturalist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to study and work at the newly reorganized Museum of Natural History. Immediately appointed professor of zoology and assistant professor of animal anatomy 1800 Became professor at the Collège de France 1800 Broke with doctrine that all life could be organized into a continuous series beginning with the simplest organism and ending with humans in favour of the idea that four basic body plans existed in the animal world: the Vertebrata, Articulata, Radiata, and Mollusca 1817 Le Regne Animal dominated natural history in England and France until the publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin Also served in other public service positions: 1814 Councillor of state 1819 Head of the Interior Department of the Council of State