Charles Frédéric Girard: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}{{Infobox scientist

| birth_place = [[MulhouseMullhouse]], [[France]]

| residencecitizenship = [[France|French]] =and American

| workplaces = [[Smithsonian Institution]]

| alma_matereducation = College of [[Neuchâtel]], [[Georgetown University]]

| awards = [[Cuvier Prize]] (1859)of the [[Institut de France]]

'''Charles Frédéric Girard''' ({{IPA-fr|ʃaʁl fʁedeʁik ʒiʁaʁ}}; 8 March 1822 – 29 January 1895) was a [[France|French]] [[biology|biologist]] specializing in [[ichthyology]] and [[herpetology]].

BornGirard was born on 8 March 1822 in [[Mulhouse]], France,. heHe studied at the College of [[Neuchâtel]], [[Switzerland]], as a student of [[Louis Agassiz]]. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to [[Harvard University|Harvard]]. Three years later, [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]] called him to the [[Smithsonian Institution]] to work on its growing collection of North American [[reptile]]sreptiles, [[amphibian]]samphibians and [[fish]]esfishes. He worked at the museum for the next ten years and published numerous papers, many in collaboration with Baird.<ref name ="smithsonhian">[{{cite web |title=Charles Girard, Ichthyology at the Smithsonian, 1850-1900 |url=http://vertebrates.si.edu/fishes/ichthyology_history/ichs_colls/girard_charles.html Biography]|website=National Museum of Natural History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727153342/http://vertebrates.si.edu/fishes/ichthyology_history/ichs_colls/girard_charles.html |archive-date=27 July 2016}}</ref>

In 1854, he was naturalized as a [[United States|U.S.]] citizen. Besides his work at the Smithsonian, he managed to earn an [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] from [[Georgetown University]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1856. In 1859 he returned to France and was awarded the [[Cuvier Prize]] by the [[Institute of France]] for his work on the North American reptiles and fishes two years later.<ref name ="smithsonhian"/>

When the [[American Civil War]] broke out, he joined the [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] as an agent for surgical and medical supplies. After the war, he remained in France and started a medical career. During the [[Franco-Prussian War]] he served as a military physician and published an important paper on the [[typhoid fever]] after the [[Siege of Paris (1870-18711870–71)|Siegesiege of Paris]]. He remained active as a medical doctor until ca. 1888. In the following three years, he published a few more papers on natural history.<ref name ="smithsonhian"/>

He retired in 1891, and spent the rest of his life in [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], where he died inon 29 January 1895.<ref name ="smithsonhian"/>

Girard is commemorated in the names of the following taxa:<ref name="Goode1891">{{cite journal|first=George Brown|last= Goode|title=The published writings of Dr. Charles Girard|journal=Bulletin of the United States National Museum|number=41|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=x7dMXTu8f38C|year=1891|publisher=}}</ref>

*''[[Girardinus]]'' [[Felipe Poey y Aloy|Poey]], 1854

*''[[Girardinichthys]]'' [[Pieter Bleeker|Bleeker]], 1860

*''[[Cambarus|Cambarus girardianus]]'' [[Walter Faxon|Faxon]], 1884

*''[[SynaptaMicrocyphus girardi]]'' Pourtales[[Pierre Jean Édouard Desor|Desor]]

*''[[VortexSynapta girardi]]'' Schmidt[[Louis François de Pourtalès|Pourtalès]]

[[Category:Georgetown University MedicalSchool Centerof Medicine alumni]]

[[Category:PeopleScientists from Mulhouse]]