Joachim Barrande

Joachim Barrande (August 11th 1799 - October 5th 1883) is a geologist and paleontologist French.

Barrande is born with Saugues in the department from the Haute-Loire. He studies with the Polytechnic school (Major of promotion X 1819) with Paris. Although it received a training of engineer it becomes tutor of Henri d' Artois, the grandson of Charles X. When this one abdicates, Barrande accompanies it in its exile in England and Scotland then later with Prague.

It settles in this city in 1831 and works in engineering. It is interested then in the Fossile S of the old Paléozoïque of Bohemia at the time of construction of ways of railroad.

The publication in 1839 of The Silurian System by Roderick Murchison encourages Barrande to undertake systematic research on the stratigraphic layers equivalent of Bohemia. During ten years (1840 - 1850) it makes a detailed study of these rocks, engaging of the workers to collect the fossils and it obtains thus more than 3500 species of Graptolite S, Brachiopodes, Mollusque S, Crustacé S (in particular of the Trilobite S) and Poisson S. the first volume of its work, treating trilobites, the System silurien of the center of Bohemia appears in 1852. Until 1881, blackjack quarto volumes of texts and engravings are published. Other volumes are completed by Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen (1841-1900), Jaroslav Jiljí Jahn (1865-1934) (Échinoderme S), Filip Poãta (1859-1924) (Bryozoaire S, Hydrozoaire S, Anthozoaire S, Alcyonaire S) and Jaroslav Perner (1869-1947) (Gastéropode S) and published after its death, of 1887 with 1911.

In addition to the System silurien of Bohemia , it publishes a great number of work, in particular on the paleozoic old one and fauna in Spain, in Belgium, in Norway and Bavaria. It publishes also the Defense of the colonies which causes many controversies in the scientific community.

Barrande dies in Frohsdorf on October 5th 1883. It rests in the cemetery of Lanzenkirchen close to Vienna.

Its currency “It is what I saw” testifies to the scientific rigor of his descriptions. It made gift of its collections of fossils to the National museum of Prague where they are always visible in a room which is devoted to them.

Heritage

Known and admired for the importance of its work by the Czech , France tardily recognized it by setting up a stele commemorative and by giving its name to the college of its native village.

A district in the south of Prague, Barrandov, bears its name. Its name, later, was made even more famous for the Studios Barrandov, located in this district and where were turned the great majority of films of the Czech Cinéma.

Sources

External bonds

a more complete biography, Radvan Horn˘ and Vojtûch Turek

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