Births on April 15

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

Born on April 15, 1772

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (15 April 1772 – 19 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories. Geoffroy's scientific views had a transcendental flavor (unlike Lamarck's materialistic views) and were similar to those of German morphologists like Lorenz Oken. He believed in the underlying unity of organismal design, and the possibility of the transmutation of species in time, amassing evidence for his claims through research in comparative anatomy, paleontology, and embryology. He is considered as a predecessor of the evo-devo evolutionary concept.

References

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

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Events on 1772

9 Jun

Gaspee Affair
The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
21 Aug

Swedish Constitution of 1772
King Gustav III completes his coup d'état by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and installing himself as an enlightened despot.