Pierre-Joseph van Beneden

Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden
Born	19 December 1809 Mechelen, First French Empire
Died	8 January 1894 (aged 84) Leuven, Belgium
Alma mater	University of Louvain
Scientific career
Fields	zoology paleontology

Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden FRS FRSE FGS FZS (19 December 1809 – 8 January 1894) was a Belgian zoologist and paleontologist. He is credited with introducing the terms "mutualism" and "commensalism" into biology in 1875 and 1876 respectively.

Life

Born in Mechelen, then part of the First French Empire, he studied medicine at the State University of Leuven and studied zoology in Paris under Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). In 1831, he became curator at the natural history museum in Leuven, and from 1836 until 1894, was a professor of zoology at the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1842, he became a member of the Académie des sciences de Belgique, becoming its President in 1881. In 1875, he became a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, and in 1884, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He was the father of biologist Edouard van Beneden (1846–1910). Pierre-Joseph van Beneden died at age 84 in Leuven, Belgium. He was a devout Catholic and, as the writer of his obituary for the Royal Society states, always exhibited "the widest toleration for the views of others".

Work

Van Beneden was a specialist in the field of parasitology, being known for his comprehensive studies on the development, transformation, and life-histories of parasitic worms. In 1858, a treatise on this subject won the Grand prix des sciences physiques of the Institut de France. It was published in the "International Scientific Series" (1875), under the title Les commensaux et les parasites dans le règne animal and was translated into English and German.

He did extensive research in marine biology, and in 1843, established one of the world's first aquarium and marine laboratory in Ostend. With French zoologist Paul Gervais (1816–1879), he published an important work on extinct and living cetaceans titled Ostéographie des Cétacés, vivants et fossiles. His interest in this matter had begun during the excavations rendered necessary by the fortifying of Antwerp, when a number of bones of fossil whales were exposed to view. His papers on the extinct species found near Antwerp were published in the Annales du musée royal d'histoire naturelle de Brucelles, and with them was incorporated a description of the fossil seals which were discovered in the same area.

He introduced the term mutualism in his work Les Commensaux et les Parasites (1875). He had used the term earlier in 1873 in a communication to the Royal Academy of Belgium.

Distinctions

Van Beneden attended the celebration of the tercentenary of the University of Edinburgh and was there made an honorary LL.D. He was a foreign member of the Royal Society and also of the Linnæan, Geological, and Zoological societies of London. He was president of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1881, and was created Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold on the occasion of his professorial jubilee. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1886. He became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1859.

The extinct Carboniferous fish Benedenius is named after him, whose type species van Beneden had initially described as Paleoniscus deneensis.

Books

A selection of books by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden with full text available.

• Mémoire sur les vers intestinaux (1858)
• Recherches sur la faune littorale de Belgique: crustacés (1861)
• Les poissons des côtes de Belgique, leurs parasite et leurs commensaux (1870)
• Animal parasites and messmates (1876)
• Histoire naturelle des balénoptères (1888)
• Histoire naturelle des cétacés des mers d'Europe (1889)

Other sources

• Brice Poreau, Biologie et complexité: histoire et modèles du commensalisme. Thesis, largely based on the work by Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden. Thèse d'université, Université Lyon 1, France, 4 July 2014. PDF, 351 pages (in French with English abstract)

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden — Born at Mechlin, Belgium, 19 Dec., 1809; died at Louvain, 8 Jan., 1894. Educated for the medical profession, he was appointed curator of the natural history museum at the University of Louvain in 1831. Five years later he became professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in the Catholic University at Louvain. This chair he held until the time of his death. He was thus able to celebrate the jubilee of his appointment to his chair and the occasion was duly honoured both in his native and his university cities. Throughout his life he was a most diligent worker, and the list of his contributions to scientific periodicals amounts to over two hundred papers. In the earlier part of his career he directed his attention especially to invertebrates and particularly to marine invertebrates, which he studied during many vacations spent at Ostend. In 1843 he established at his own expense a marine laboratory and an aquarium for the further prosecution of these studies, and this institution is believed to have been one of the earliest if not actually the first example of a place of study of its kind in any part of the world. Associated with this part of his work were his classical studies in connection with parasitic worms, the development, transformation, and life-histories of which he very fully investigated; indeed, as early as 1858 a memoir of his on this subject was successful in gaining the "Grand prix des sciences physiques" of the Institute of France. It was issued in the "International Scientific Series" (1875), under the title "Les commensaux et les parasites dans le regne animal", and was translated into English and German.

The other direction in which van Beneden's activities found a vent was connected with the vertebrate division of the animal kingdom. During the excavations rendered necessary by the fortifying of Antwerp a number of bones of fossil whales were exposed to view. These attracted van Beneden's attention and led him to undertake a detailed study of the group, whose characteristics were at that time very imperfectly known. On the subject of the cetacea, living and extinct, he published a number of papers and several large works. The most important of these is his "Ostéographie des cétacés vivants et fossiles", which was written in collaboration with Paul Gervais and published between 1868 and 1880. His papers on the extinct species found near Antwerp were published in the "Annales du musée royal d'histoire naturelle de Brucelles", and with them was incorporated a description of the fossil seals which were discovered in the same neighbourhood. Van Beneden attended the celebration of the tercentenary of Edinburgh University, and was there made an honorary LL.D. He was a foreign member of the Royal Society and also of the Linnæan, Geological, and Zoological Societies of London. He was president of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1881, and was created Grand Officer of the order of Leopold on the occasion of his professorial jubilee. He was always a devout and convinced adherent of the Catholic Church, though, as the writer of his obituary for the Royal Society particularly states, always exhibiting "the widest toleration for the views of others".

Obituary Notice in Transactions of the Royal Society, LVII (1894-95), p. Xx; KEMNA, P.J. van Beneden, La vie et l'oeuvre d'un zoologiste (Antwerp, 1897).

External links

• Matthias Breyne et al. Archived 2013-10-24 at the Wayback Machine The World's very first Marine Station