Alcide Dessalines d' Orbigny

Born in Couëron, France, in 1802, Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny became one of the great naturalists of his century. He was sent by the Paris Museum of Natural History to South America, where he spent about eight years traveling, observing, and collecting specimens. That expedition shaped his career and supplied the material for many of his later studies.

D'Orbigny worked across an unusually wide range of fields, including zoology, paleontology, geology, archaeology, and anthropology. He is especially remembered as a founder of micropaleontology, the study of microscopic fossils, and for his work on foraminifera. His research helped scientists use fossils to understand the age and order of rock layers.

Later in life, his reputation was recognized by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, where a chair of paleontology was created for him in 1853. He died in 1857, but his collections and publications continued to influence the study of natural history long after his lifetime.