Joachim Barrande
was born on August 11th 1799 in the town of Sauges in southern
France. During his studies at the École Polytechnique and École des Ponts et
chaussées he was interested in natural sciences. He went to lectures of Georges
Cuvier, Jean B. Lamarck, Alexander Brongniart and other great naturalists of that
time. After his graduation, Barrande worked as an engineer and designed, for
instance, a bridge over the Loire River. Then he became the tutor of Henry,
Count of Chambord, the grandson of King Charles X. Bourbon. Unfortunately,
after political changes in 1830, the Bourbons were expelled from France.
Barrande left together with the Bourbons to settle in Edinburgh for a short
time, and then traveled to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now the Czech Republic).
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| Cephalopods from Barrande's "Systême silurien..." |
Soon after
arriving to Prague, Barrande met some of the main Czech literates such as
František Palacký or Count Kaspar Sternberg (Sternberg was one of the founders
of the National Museum and a great palaeobotanist). Sternberg suggested Barrande
to take charge of the upcoming construction of the railroad from Křivoklát to
the Radnice. During exploration work Barrande discovered, to his surprise, that
rocks all around contain excellently preserved fossils. The project of the
railroad was eventually cancelled and Barrande became the administrator of the estate
of Henry of Chambord. Because he had a lot of free time, Barrande undertook
paleontological excursions around Prague where he collected fossils. In
collecting, he was assisted by amateur collectors, often workers from quarries,
which Barrande paid.
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| Brachiopods from Barrande's "Systême silurien..." |
In 1843 Barrande
invited a Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison to visit Bohemia. Murchison
confirmed that all fossils are of Silurian age (Cambrian to Devonian in today's
concept). After Murchinson´s pattern, Barrande decided to write a treatise
about Silurian fossils of Central Bohemia. The first volume of the "Systême
silurien du centre de la Bohême" was published in 1852. In his life Barrande
published 22 volumes, which make almost 6000 pages and over 1000 lithographic
plates in total. More than 3550 species of Paleozoic organisms (trilobites,
crustaceans, cephalopods, bivalves, brachiopods and others) were described and
illustrated. Owing to Barrande’s technical education all descriptions and
illustrations of the fossils were very precise. That is one of the reasons why
his work is unique even for today´s standards.
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| See Barrande's material from National Museum, Prague in Europeana. |
In 1883 Barrande
went to Frohsdorf in Vienna, where he found his former ward of Henry of
Chambord on his deathbed. A few hours after his arrival, however, Henry died. Barrande
took care of Chambord’s testament. He unfortunately fell ill with pneumonia during
the work and died on October 5th 1883 at the age of 84. Barrande
dedicated his huge collection, library, field notes, and 10,000 Guldens to the
National Museum. The region between Pilsen and Prague has been named after Barrande,
as well as the Prague city district of Barrandov, etc.
Read Barrande’s work here. Stay tuned!
