Philippe-Charles Schmerling
{{Short description|Belgian-Dutch scientist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Philippe-Charles Schmerling
| honorific_suffix =
| native_name = Philip Carel Schmerling
| native_name_lang = nl
| image = Philippe-Charles Schmerling.jpg
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| alt = Philippe-Charles Schmerling
| caption = Philippe-Charles Schmerling
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1791|03|02|df=y}}
| birth_place = Delft
| death_date = {{death date and age|1836|11|07|1791|03|02|df=y}}
| death_place = Liège
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| fields = History, Paleontology, Geology
| workplaces =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| thesis_title = 'De studii psychologiae in medicina utilitate et necessitate'
| thesis_year = 1825
| known_for = Paleontology
| influences =
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| spouse = Elizabeth Douglas
| children =
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File:Philippe-Charles Schmerling 1790-1836 - 2.jpg (1847-1898)]]
File:Schmerling Caves05.JPG (fr)]]
Philippe-Charles or Philip Carel Schmerling (2 March 1791 Delft – 7 November 1836, Liège) was a Dutch/Belgian prehistorian, pioneer in paleontology, and geologist. He is often considered the founder of paleontology.
In 1829 he discovered the first Neanderthal fossil in a cave in Engis, the partial cranium of a small child, although it was not recognized as such until 1936, and is now thought to be between 30,000 and 70,000 years old. It was the second discovery of a fossil of the genus Homo after the discovery of the Red Lady of Paviland in Wales in 1823.{{Cite web|title=Homo neanderthalensis |url=http://anthropology.si.edu/humanorigins/ha/neand.htm |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=18 May 2009}}
Life
Philipus Carel, later Philippe-Charles, Schmerling was the son of Dutch parents, Jan Carel, a trader from 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, and Lucia van Koijck from Dordrecht. Schmerling studied medicine in Delft and Leiden. Afterwards he served as physician in the Dutch army between 1812 and 1816.{{Cite web |url=http://users.swing.be/sw201655/paged1.htm |title=Biographie |access-date=2011-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927060731/http://users.swing.be/sw201655/paged1.htm |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }} On 17 October 1821 in Venlo he married Elizabeth Douglas. They had two daughters, in 1823 and 1825.
In 1822, Schmerling and his wife moved to Liège at which university he continued his studiesLiliane Henderickx, « Philippe Charles Schmerling (1790-1836) révèle l'antiquité de l'homme grâce aux dépôts antédiluviens des grottes liégeoises », Revue d'Archéologie et de Paléontologie , n° 10, Centre d'archéologie et de paléontologie, Plainevaux, 1991, p. 24-66. and became Doctor of Medicine in 1825. His doctoral dissertation was on the subject De studii psychologiae in medicina utilitate et necessitate.Charles Morren, « Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Philippe-Charles Schmerling », in Annuaire de l’Académie royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, t. 4, 1838, p. 130-150. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=bUA0AAAAMAAJ&dq=editions%3AUOM39015065658828&pg=RA3-PA130 Google Books)]Marc Groenen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rXC8yj3uvDUC&dq=Philippe-Charles+Schmerling&pg=PA473 Pour une histoire de la préhistoire: le Paléolithique], Editions Jérôme Millon, 1994, p. 473.
In 1829 he excavated fossils in what are now named the Schmerling Caves, in the region of Flémalle, in the Meuse valley, between Liège and Huy.Philippe Charles Schmerling, Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles découverts dans les cavernes de la province de Liège, vol. I, P.-J. Collardin, Liège, 1833, 213 p., p. 24 et 126. Schmerling investigated about sixty calcareous caves of the provinces of Liège and Luxembourg during the following years.
He became correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in September 1836.{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00002832 |title=P.C. Schmerling (1791 - 1836) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=18 July 2015}}
Works
- ''{{Lang|la|De studii psychologiae in medicina utilitate et necessitate}}, Liège, 1825 ;
- « Cavernes à ossemens fossiles, découvertes jusqu’à ce jour dans la province de Liège » dans Philippe Vandermaelen, Dictionnaire géographique de la province de Liège, Bruxelles, Établissement géographique, 1831, p. 3-7 des annexes;
- Quelques observations sur la teinture de colchique et principalement sur son emploi dans les affections arthritiques et rhumatismales, Liège, P.J. Collardin, 1832;
- « Sur une caverne à ossemens de la province de Liége » dans le Bulletin de la Société géologique de France, t. III, 1833, p. 217-222;
- « {{Lang|de|Ueber die Knochenhölen bei Lüttich}} » dans {{Lang|de|Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde}}, 1, 1833, p. 38-48;
- Recherches sur les ossements fossiles découverts dans les cavernes de la Province de Liège, Liège, P.J. Collardin, 1833-1834 ;
- « Renseignements sur la caverne à ossements dite le trou de Hogheur, dans le Luxembourg » dans le Bulletin de l’Académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres de Belgique, t. II, 1835, p. 271-275;
- « Mémoire sur les ossemens fossiles à l'état pathologique, recueillis dans les cavernes de la province de Liège » dans Bulletins de l'Académie royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles, t. 2, 1835, p. 362-364;
- « Description des ossemens fossiles à l'état pathologique, provenant des cavernes de la province de Liége » dans Bulletin de la Société géologique de France, t. 7, 1835, p. 51-61;
- « Notice sur quelques os de pachydermes découverts dans le terrain meuble près du village de Chokier » dans le Bulletin de l’Académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres de Belgique, t. III, 1836, p. 82.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927060731/http://users.swing.be/sw201655/paged1.htm Biographie]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219121451/http://www.scladina.be/neandertaliens-en-belgique.htm Scladina]
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Category:19th-century Belgian historians
Category:Belgian paleontologists
Category:19th-century Dutch historians
Category:Dutch paleontologists
Category:Dutch military doctors
Category:Leiden University alumni
Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences