Bernard Germain de Lacépède | |
|---|---|
%2c_naturaliste_et_homme_politique_-_P2618_-_Mus%25C3%25A9e_Carnavalet.jpg) Portrait byJoseph Ducreux, c. 1785 | |
| Born | (1756-12-26)26 December 1756 |
| Died | 6 October 1825(1825-10-06) (aged 68) |
| Known for | ContinuingBuffon'sHistoire Naturelle |
| Awards |  Grand-Croix of the Legion of Honor (1805) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Natural history |
| Institutions | National Museum of Natural History, France |
Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède orLa Cépède (French:[bɛʁnaʁʒɛʁmɛ̃etjɛndəlavilsyʁ‿ijɔ̃dəlasepɛd]; 26 December 1756 – 6 October 1825) was a Frenchnaturalist and an activefreemason. He is known for his contribution to theComte de Buffon's great work, theHistoire Naturelle.
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Lacépède was born atAgen inGuienne. His education was carefully conducted by his father, and the early perusal ofBuffon's Natural History (Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière) awakened his interest in that branch of study, which absorbed his chief attention. His leisure he devoted to music, in which, besides becoming a good performer on the piano and organ, he acquired considerable mastery of composition, two of his operas (which were never published) meeting with the high approval ofGluck; in 1781–1785 he also brought out in two volumes hisPoétique de la musique.
Meantime he wrote two treatises,Essai sur l'électricité (1781) andPhysique générale et particulière (1782–1784), which gained him the friendship of Buffon, who in 1785 appointed him subdemonstrator in theJardin du Roi, and proposed that he continue Buffon'sHistoire naturelle. This continuation was published under the titlesHistoire naturelle des quadrupèdes ovipares et des serpents.Tome premier (1788) andHistoire naturelle desserpents. Tome second (1789).[1]
After theFrench Revolution Lacépède became a member of theLegislative Assembly, but during theReign of Terror he left Paris, his life having become endangered by his disapproval of themassacres. When the Jardin du Roi was reorganised as theJardin des Plantes and as theMuséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in1793, Lacépède was appointed to the chair allocated to the study ofreptiles andfishes. In 1798, he published the first volume ofHistoire naturelle des poissons, the fifth volume appearing in 1803, and in 1804 appeared hisHistoire des cétacées. From this period until his death the part he took in politics prevented him making any further contribution of importance to science. In 1799, he became asenator, in 1801 president of thesenate (a role he also fulfilled in 1807–08 and 1811–13), in 1803 grand chancellor of theLegion of Honor, in 1804 minister of state, and at theBourbon Restoration in 1819 he was created apeer of France.
He died atÉpinay-sur-Seine. During the latter part of his life he wroteHistoire générale physique et civile de l'Europe, published posthumously in 18 volumes, 1826.[1]
He was elected perpetual secretary of theFrench Academy of Sciences at theInstitute of France in 1796, aFellow of the Royal Society in 1806 and a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1812.[citation needed]
Lacépède was initiated intofreemasonry at 22 years old atLes Neuf Sœurs lodge in Paris, byJérôme Lalande the worshipfull master himself, who wanted a naturalist for his prestigious lodge. In 1785, Lacépède created his own lodge : "Les Frères Initiés". After the Revolution, he helpedCambacérès to rebuild a French freemasonry submitted to the Emperor, and joined "Saint-Napoléon" lodge whereGeneral Kellermann was worshipfull master. He finished his masonic life as dignitary of theSuprême Conseil de France.[2][3][4]
Lacépède was an earlyevolutionary thinker. He argued for thetransmutation of species. He believed that species change over time and may go extinct from geological cataclysms or become "metamorphosed" into new species.[5] In his bookHistoire naturelle des poissons, he wrote:
"The species can undergo such a large number of modifications in its forms and qualities, that without losing its vital capacity, it may be, by its latest conformation and properties, farther removed from its original state than from a different species: it is in that case metamorphosed into a new species."[6]
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lacépède, Bernard Germain Étienne de la Ville, Compte de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 48.
