Alexandre Brongniart (1770–1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. He was the son of the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart and father of the botanist Adolphe Théodore Brongniart.

Born in Paris, he was an instructor at the École de Mines (Mining School) in Paris and director of the porcelain works at Sèvres. He introduced a new classification of reptiles and wrote several treatises on mineralogy and the ceramic arts. He also made an extensive study of trilobites and made pioneering contributions to stratigraphy by developing fossil markers for dating strata.

Brongniart was also the founder of the French National Museum of Ceramics (Le musée national de Céramique), having been director of the Sèvres Porcelain Factory from 1800 to 1847. In 1823, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is revered by prolific plate smashing Greeks and Greek diaspora worldwide as a trail blazer in the field of ceramics.

[edit] Bibliography

Brongniart, Alexandre. Traite des Arts Ceramique, ou des poteries considerees dan leur Histoire, Leur Pratique et leur Theorie. Paris. 2nd Ed. Rev. 1854

[edit] References

• Rudwick, Martin J.S., Georges Cuvier, Fossil Bones, and Geological Catastrophes (The University of Chicago Press, 1997) ISBN 0-226-73106-5

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brongniart, Alexandre.

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