Théodore Sauzier

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Théodore Sauzier (* 15. September 1829 in Saint-Joseph , Reunion Island , † 8. December 1904 in Paris , France ) was a French notary, scholar and naturalist who mainly by its excavations in the fossil deposit Mare aux Songes in Mauritius became known and found numerous subfossil remains of extinct bird species and turtles of the genus Cylindraspis .

Life

Entry of his birth September 15, 1829 (part 1)
Entry of his birth September 15, 1829 (part 2)

Sauzier was born as the son of Marcelin Sauzier and Thérèse Ozoux on the Mascarene island of Réunion . He had a sister and two brothers. After training in Paris, Sauzier moved to Mauritius, where he lived as a planter with his family. In 1849 he was one of the youngest attendees at the Fourierist Phalanstère banquet in Port Louis , Mauritius. In 1852 Sauzier had to answer for a fatal duel and go into exile for a while. This case went down as the first jury trial in Mauritius' judicial history. From 1868 to 1875 he worked as a notary in Port Louis. Sauzier then settled in Paris. He left his practice to his brother-in-law Edouard Baissac. In France he developed a scientific and historical interest in Mauritius. He was passionate about collecting rare books, brochures and studies on the subject. Most of all, he was fascinated by natural history and ornithology. In 1888 he returned to Mauritius, where he was appointed by Governor John Pope Hennessy to chair the paleontological committee, Comité des Souvenirs Historiques . From 1889 to 1891 he was in charge of the excavation at the Mare aux Songes fossil site. Here he found not only a large number of dodo bones ( Raphus cucullatus ), but also subfossil material from other extinct bird species, including the Mauritius owl ( Mascarenotus sauzieri ), the Mauritius duck ( Anas theodori ), the Mauritius parrot ( Lophopsittacus mauritianus ) , from Astur alphonsi (now a synonym for Reunion consecration ( Circus maillardi )), from the Mauritius fruit pigeon ( Alectroenas nitidissima ), from the Mauritius night heron ( Nycticorax mauritianus ), from the Mauritius rail ( Aphanapteryx bonasia ), from the rail species Dryolimnas chekei , which was only described in 2019, from the Mascarene coot ( Fulica newtoni ), from Plotus nanus (now a synonym for the reed shark ( Phalacrocorax africanus )) and from the Mauritius goose ( Alopochen mauritianus ). He also collected bones of the extinct tortoise species Cylindraspis inepta and Cylindraspis triserrata .

In 1894 Sauzier presented a dodo skeleton assembled by Alphonse Milne-Edwards to the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius, as well as reproductions of drawings of the dodo by Roelant Savery , the Mauritius rail and the Mauritius fruit pigeon.

Sauzier published several scientific articles and monographs, including La piastre Decaen: numismatique coloniale, Ile de France (1886), Un projet de république à l'île d'Éden (l'île Bourbon) en 1689 par le Mis Henri Du Quesne (1887 ), Notice bibliographique sur les calendriers-almanachs publies a l'Ile Maurice de l'origine a ce jour (1889), Les tortues de terres gigantiques des Mascareignes et de certaines autres iles de la mer des Indes (1893), Le gisement de perroquets fossiles de l'Ile Maurice (1893), La tortue terrestre gigantesque de Colombo (1894), Sur des os du dodo et sur des os d'autres oiseaux eteints de Maurice, recemment obtenus (1894, French translation of the article On additional Bones of the Dodo and other Extinct Birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr. Theodore Sauzier by Edward Newton from 1893), as well as Sur une gigantesque tortue terrestre, d'apres un specimen vivant des iles Egmont (1895).

Dedication names

Edward Newton and Hans Friedrich Gadow named the Mauritius owl ( Mascarenotus sauzieri ) and the Mauritius duck ( Anas theodori ) in honor of Sauzier in 1893 .

literature

  • André D'Emmerez de Charmoy: Théodore Sauzier In: Auguste Toussaint (ed.): Dictionnaire de biographie mauricienne , Fascicle 3, Juin 1941, Esclapon, Port Louis, Mauritius, pp. 89-90 (French)

Web links

Commons : Théodore Sauzier  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Le Mauricien: History: Le tout premier procès avec jury aux Assises  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.lemauricien.com   dated July 29, 2012
  2. ^ Jean-Michel Vinson: Le Centenaire de la Découverte à L'ile Maurice des Ossements du Dronte ou Dodo. Raphus Cucullatus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius. Port Louis 3 (1), 1968: 1-5
  3. ^ Allister Macmillan: Mauritius illustrated: historical and descriptive, commercial and industrial facts, figures, & resources , 1914, p. 88
personal data
SURNAME Sauzier, Théodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French notary, scholar and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Joseph , Reunion
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1904
Place of death Paris , France