Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe


Louis Agassiz was born at Môtier-en-Vuly, Switzerland, on May 28, 1807. He displayed an early interest in natural history. In 1824 he entered Universität Zürich for medical training, then moved to Universität Heidelberg in Germany. In Heidelberg his interest in natural history increased. His next move was to Universität München and, while there in 1829 and still only 21 years old, he published a work on Brazilian fishes, using the collected materials of von Martius and von Spix. His next zoological endeavor was to begin research on fossil fishes.

In 1831, he moved to Paris still with the ambition of completing his medical training. However, he spent part of each day studying fossil fishes and he came under the influence of Cuvier and adopted the latter’s views of creation. Thus, according to Agassiz, each species was the result of separate creation, not of evolution. In 1832–1846 he was a professor at Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland. In 1836, Louis began to study glaciers and their effects, on which he published works in 1840, 1846 and 1847. In Switzerland, he also published a large catalog “Nomenclator zoologici” of the names of animals, of which some fascicles were on insects. In 1846 he moved to the USA, was welcomed as a famous scientist, and in 1848 was appointed professor of zoology and geology at Harvard University.

At Harvard, he clashed with Asa Gray, professor of botany, about evolution, because Gray supported Darwin’s theory. However, it was Louis’ efforts and influence that led to the foundation of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, an institution that became very influential in research on insect systematics. He also was a cofounder of the U.S. National Science Foundation. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 14, 1873. His son Alexander and two daughters of his first marriage accompanied him to the USA (his first wife having died in Switzerland). Alexander Agassiz (1835–1910) likewise became a zoologist. Louis Agassiz remarried in 1850 in the USA.

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe


Agaonidae (Hymenoptera)
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