National Natural history museum of natural history

The national Muséum of natural history is an establishment of French scientific research, having the statute of Grand establishment, placed under joint supervision of the ministries for the State education, the Recherche and the Environnement. Its main missions are the conservation of scientific collections, the research and the formation with research, the diffusion of the Scientific culture in the specialities suitable for the establishment. These specialities relate to the disciplines suitable for the Natural history, namely the study of the animal world (derived Zoologie and disciplines), that of the vegetable world (Botanique and disciplines derived) and that of the Earth and the mineral world (Géomorphologie, ecology, Minéralogie, Pétrologie…). And in Natural history there is the word Histoire, namely the History of our planet and that of the life (Paléontologie). It is one of the most visited galleries besides, with the large gallery of the Évolution.

History

Under Louis XIII, the royal edict of 1635 creates the royal Jardin of the medicinal plants, one of the oldest scientific establishments of France. The intendant and the holders of the principal loads are all doctors in Médecine. At the 18th century, the activity changes: one passes from art to cure with the plants with the natural history. The royal declaration of the March 31st 1718 separates the load from first doctor of the king of the superintendence of the Garden.

In 1739, Georges Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon (1707-1788) is named intendant. It directs during 50 years what one then calls the Jardin of the king. Its international notoriety and its keen work make place one of the scientific headlights of the 18th century. With its death, in 1788, the King names with the head of the garden a soldier, Charles-François de Flahaut, count of Billarderie. Under the control of Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton, the personnel of the Garden, in particular the demonstrators, make known their dissatisfaction near the king, but without success.

The Révolution will transform the operation of the Garden deeply. The August 20th 1790, a decree of the National Assembly request with the demonstrators to write a project for its reorganization. The first assembly votes the departure of the count of Billarderie and elects Daubenton as president unanimously. It forms a commission including/understanding Antoine-François Fourcroy, Bernard Lacépède and Antoine Portal. This one is charged to write the payment of the new institution and to fix operation of it. It determines also the missions of the Natural history museum: to inform the public but also to constitute collections and to actively take part in the scientific research. The body of the professors and their director, elected official and renewed each year having to be guaranteeing independence of research.

But the project does not succeed, the National Assembly not taking an action pursuant. In 1791, Billarderie resigns and is replaced by Jacques-Henri Bernardin of Saint-Pierre. It is only in 1793 that Joseph Lakanal (1762-1845) bringing the collections of the Prince de Condé meets Daubenton and discovers the project of 1790. Lakanal carries it to the Parliament and, as of the following day June 10th, 1793, obtains the vote of the decree establishing the Natural history museum, thus giving a clean legal existence.

The post of intendant is then replaced by the function of director. The old hierarchy, in particular as demonstrators and under-demonstrators, is abolished. Twelve posts of professor ensure, equally and collegial, the administration of the Natural history museum. The lesson is divided into 12 professorial pulpits.

During first half of the 19th century, the Natural history museum knows one period of great prosperity. With the nomination, in 1836, of the chemist Eugene Chevreul (1786-1889), it turns, like its rival the Faculty of Science of Paris, to the applied sciences. This period ends with the arrival of Alphonse Milne-Edwards, in 1890, and the promulgation of the decree of December 12th, 1891 which signs the return in strength of the natural history (this policy will remain in force until the day before Second world war).

The finance law of December 31st, 1907 makes cross a new step with the Natural history museum: it grants financial autonomy to him by equipping it with a clean budget which it manages.

Parallel to the new fields of activity opened by the Colonialism, the Natural history museum engages a movement of expansion out of the capital. To support its research activities related to the sea, it establishes, in 1928, its maritime laboratory with Saint-Servan, then with Dinard. Its botanical activity not being contradicted, he becomes owner by legacy of the field of Chèvreloup, in 1934. He also inherits the property of the Entomologiste Jean Henri Fabre with Sérignan-of-Comtat the, close to Orange, in 1822. Following the decolonization, the Natural history museum concentrates its efforts on the awakening of the imbalances caused with nature by the human expansion. In 1948, it takes part in the creation of the International union for the nature conservation (UICN). Later, it installs in its walls a service of nature conservation (1962), the secretariat of Fauna and Flora (1979) and a permanent delegation with the Environment (1992).

Other acquisitions are made in province: the Shelter Lump in the Dordogne (1957), the animalist Parc of High-Touches in the Indre (1958), the Botanical garden of Valley Rameh to Menton (1966), the station of vegetable biology of Cherré in the the Sarthe and the station of maritime biology of Concarneau (1996).

In 1975, a plan of rehabilitation of the buildings and regrouping of the laboratories allows in particular spectacular achievements, like the underground zoothèque (1986) and the transformation of the old gallery of zoology into large gallery of the Evolution (1994). The statute of 1985 met fine to the role of administrators of the professors and installs 3 councils which ensure the management of the Natural history museum to replace the assembly of the professors initiated in 1793. Very recently, the decree of 2001 creates intermediate hierarchical levels between the direction and research, as well as transverse structures to reinforce the coherence of the actions related to the great missions. Chaired since July 17th, 2006 by Andre Ménez, the Natural history museum holds a national and international role major in the development of the natural history.

Establishments of the Natural history museum

At present, the Natural history museum has:

Libraries

The national Natural history museum of natural history includes/understands a direction of the libraries and documentation, which federates the central Library of the Natural history museum and 27 libraries of laboratories, some with the Natural history museum even, the other present ones on some of the other sites of the Natural history museum.

The Cabinet of the King already included/understood at the time of the Revolution a few tens of works. However, the decree of June 10th, 1793 will create the conditions of its development. On the one hand, the library receives an official existence and the first stage is allotted to him. In addition, the decree pronounces attribution with the Natural history museum of the collection of “Vellums of the King”, always preserved by the establishment and from now on digitized, as well as the doubles of works of natural history present at the royal library. Especially, it authorizes the Natural history museum to feed its collections in the literary deposits of the capital.

The library becomes extensive thus quickly, constituting an encyclopedic collection with a Net interest for sciences, in particular biological, and technology. The library receives in addition important gift S and legacy, in particular of Georges Cuvier or Michel-Eugene Chevreul.

In 1823, the collections reach already 15  000 volumes. In 1833, the construction of the building of mineralogy and geology by Charles Rohault de Fleury provides the occasion to install the library in vaster buildings, open in 1837. This new library will be useful during more than one century, while at the same time the collections increase (300  further; 000 volumes towards 1950). Henri Delage thus designs the current building, inaugurated the June 26th 1963, which includes/understands two rooms of reading and seven levels of stores.

The current collections of the central library can be estimated at approximately 200  000 volumes of modern books, more 13  000 titles of periodicals (3  000 alive approximately), approximately 105  000 old printed papers form, close to 8  000 Handwritten S, of the charts, the prints and a thousand of objects of Article. Since 1992, the central library is agent of “funds polar” consisted Jean Malaurie. A media library, opened with many people, includes/understands approximately 6  000 works, a hundred periodicals and files documentary.

The clean budget of the library is approximately 1,3 million euros. The library of the Natural history museum is CADIST and “pole associated” with the National library of France.

Among the 27 associated libraries, the library of the Musée of the Man is in the course of transfer to the Musée of the quay Branly.

Collections

Only two institutions have higher collections: the National Museum off Natural History of Washington and the Natural history museum of natural history of London.

Direction

Director elected for one year. Director elected for two years. Director named for five years. President named for five years.
  • 2002 - 2006: Bernard Chevassus-with-Louis.
  • 2006 -… Andre Menez

Pulpits

The transformation of the Garden of the king into national natural history museum involves the creation of twelve pulpits. With the passing of years, their number and their subject will evolve/move, some are subdivided, others removed.

  • chemical Arts

    • 1779 with 1793: Antoine-Louis Brongniart.
    • 1804 with 1830: Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin.
    • 1830 with 1850: Michel-Eugene Chevreul. This pulpit is then re-elected in chemistry applied to the organic compounds .
      • Chemistry applied to the organic compounds
      • 1850 with 1889: Michel-Eugene Chevreul.
        • 1890 with 1915: Leon-Albert Arnaud.
        • 1915 with 1919: not allotted.
        • 1919 with 1925: Louis-Jacques Simon.
        • 1926 with 1927: not allotted.
        • 1928 with 1936: Richard Pit. This pulpit amalgamates then with the pulpit of vegetable physics and becomes the pulpit of organic chemistry and vegetable physics .
          • Organic chemistry and vegetable physics
            • 1936 with 1940: Richard Pit.
            • 1941 : not allotted. This pulpit is then re-elected in chemistry applied to the organized bodies .
              • Chemistry applied to the organized bodies

  • Botanical (natural classification and families)

    • 1874 with 1905: Edouard Office. After the creation of the pulpit botanical (classification and natural families of cryptogams , this pulpit is reduced to the phanérogames.
      • Botanical (classification and natural families of phanérogames)
        • 1906 with 1931: Henri Lecomte.
        • 1931 with 1933: Jean-Henri Humbert. This pulpit is then famous phanerogamy .
          • Phanérogamie'
      • Botanical (classification and natural families of cryptogams)
        • 1905 with 1931: Louis Mangin.
        • 1932 with 1932: Pierre Allorge. This pulpit is then famous cryptogamy .

  • Ecology and protection of nature

    • 1955 with 1958: Georges Kuhnholtz-Lordat. This pulpit is then famous general ecology .
      • general Ecology .
        • 1960 with 1962: Paul Rémy.
        • 1963 with??? : Claude Delamare-Deboutteville.

  • Prehistory to replace the pulpit of tropical agricultural entomology .

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