Louis Agassiz

E4499

Louis Agassiz was a 19th-century Swiss-American naturalist and geologist known for his pioneering work on glaciation and influential but controversial views on biology and race.

Aliases (2)
  • Agassiz ×2
  • Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence ×1

Statements (63)
Predicate Object
instanceOf geologist
human
ichthyologist
naturalist
paleontologist
science writer
university professor
zoologist
academicDegree doctorate in medicine
doctorate in philosophy
awardReceived Copley Medal
Wollaston Medal
buriedAt Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
countryOfCitizenship Switzerland
United States of America
dateOfBirth 1807-05-28
dateOfDeath 1873-12-14
educatedAt University of Heidelberg
University of Munich
University of Zürich
employer Harvard University
University of Neuchâtel
familyName Agassiz
fieldOfWork geology
glaciology
ichthyology
natural history
paleontology
zoology
founded Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University
givenName Louis
hasControversy opposition to Darwinian evolutionary theory
racist views and advocacy of scientific racism
influenced American natural history in the 19th century
development of glacial geology
influencedBy Alexander von Humboldt
Georges Cuvier
knownFor development and promotion of the Ice Age theory
opposition to Darwinian evolution
pioneering work on glaciation
polygenist and racist theories about human races
studies of fossil fish
languageSpoken English
French
German
mannerOfDeath natural causes
memberOf American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Philosophical Society
Royal Society of London
notableWork Essay on Classification
Recherches sur les poissons fossiles
Études sur les glaciers
opposed theory of evolution by natural selection
placeOfBirth Môtier, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland
placeOfDeath Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
positionHeld founding director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard
professor of zoology and geology at Harvard University
religion Protestantism
sexOrGender male
theorySupported Ice Age theory of widespread glaciation
polygenism (separate origins of human races)
workLocation Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Neuchâtel, Switzerland


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