Théodore Monod
Théodore Monod | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 22 November 2000 Versailles, Yvelines, France | (aged 98)
Théodore André Monod (9 April 1902 – 22 November 2000) was a French naturalist, humanist, scholar and explorer.
Exploration
Monod was educated at
He began his career in Africa with the study of monk seals on Mauritania's Cap Blanc peninsula. However, he soon turned his attention to the Sahara desert, which he would survey for more than sixty years in search of meteorites. Though he failed to find the meteorite he sought, he discovered numerous plant species as well as several important Neolithic sites. Perhaps his most important find (together with Wladimir Besnard) was the Asselar man, a 6,000-year-old skeleton of the Adrar des Ifoghas that many scholars believe to be the first remains of a distinctly black person. In the early 1960s he discovered the caravan wreck site at Ma'adin Ijafen.[3][4]
Private life and activism
Monod, the son of
Monod was also politically active, taking part in
In 1970, he led an International Committee for the Defence of Ernest Ouandié during his trial. The Cameroonian revolutionary was executed on the orders of the regime.
Monod was the great-grandson of Frédéric Monod. He shared a common ancestor with biologist Jacques Monod, the musician Jacques-Louis Monod, the politician Jérôme Monod and director Jean-Luc Godard.
Monod was a strict vegetarian who advocated for animal rights.[6] He never touched alcohol, meat or tobacco.[2] He once walked 600 miles in the Sahara to prove that he had sufficient stamina without eating meat.[6]
Scientific work
The scientific bibliography of Théodore Monod includes more than 700 works on topics – from his thesis subject, the Gnathiidae (a family of parasitic Isopoda), to the subject that he held close to his heart until his death: the Scaridae, which he published on in 1994 in collaboration with Canadian research scientist Andrea Bullock.
Monod discovered and gave his name to 30 species of insects and plants, 50 crustaceans and several fish.[6]
Selected works
Works re-edited and released by Actes Sud (Arles):
- Méharées, (Paris, 1937), rééd. 1989.
- L'Émeraude des garamantes, (éditions de L'Harmattan, Paris, 1984), rééd. 1992.
- L'Hippopotame et le philosophe, rééd. 1993.
- Désert lybique, éditions Arthaud, 1994.
- Majâbat Al-Koubrâ, Actes Sud, 1996.
- Maxence au désert, Actes Sud, Arles, 1995.
- Tais-toi et marche ..., exploration journal from El Ghallaouya-Aratane-Chinguetti, Actes Sud, 2002.
Awards
- 1960 Patrons's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his work in the Sahara.[7]
Authority name
See also
References
- This article began as a translation of the corresponding article at the French Wikipedia, accessed 17 December 2005.
- ^ "Théodore Monod (1902-2000)". museeprotestant.org. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Theodore Monod, Sahara-Loving Naturalist, Dies at 98". nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ISBN 9780299096045.
- S2CID 165759202.
- ^ Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen - History
- ^ a b c d "Theodore Monod obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 November 2000.
- ^ "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Monod.