Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1807 - 1873)

Born 28 May 1807 in Motier, Haut-Vully, Switzerland

Husband of Elizabeth Cabot (Cary) Agassiz — married 25 Apr 1850 in Boston, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 12 Dec 1873 at age 66 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

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Louis Agassiz migrated from Switzerland to US.

Biography

Louis Agassiz is Notable.

He was a Swiss naturalist. Elizabeth was his second wife, the first having died from TB. He was a paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and one of the founding fathers of the modern scientific tradition. Born in Motier, Switzerland, he was educated in the universities of Switzerland and Germany as a physician, when he immigrated to the United States in 1848, to accepted a professorship at Harvard. In 1859, he founded the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He urged the creation of a National Academy of Sciences, became a founding member in 1863 and was also appointed a regent of the Smithsonian Institution in 1863. He campaigned constantly for the resources of American science and research which made lasting contributions to evolutionary biology and systematics. At the time of his death, he was publicly recognized as America's leading scientist. His wife Elizabeth Agassiz, served as President of Radcliffe College from 1882 to 1899.

Sources

• The Britannica Guide to The 100 Most Influential Scientists (2007), pp. 172-174.
• Biographical Dictionary of American Educators, Vol. 1, ed. John F. Ohles, 1978, Westport CT/London, Greenwood Press...JR 1/2018.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #13
• Wikipedia article, Louis Agassiz