ARNOLD - LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922 - Travaux

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492 GABRIELA ANDREI, CORNELIU PANDELE 1915 – he was in Bucharest where he wrote Quelques notes sur l’oeuvre d’Ernest Haeckel, a paper with philosophical themes, left in manuscript. The original is in Montandon’s relatives possession, in France. The manuscript, dated «Bucarest, fevrier-Mars 1915» has 53 pages and, as Montandon mentioned from the very beginning, is an analysis of some aspects and even the disapproval of some Haeckel’s ideas, which do not raise at the level of the whole Haeckel’s work, „absolutely extraordinary“, as he characterized it. Written at 63 years old, after a fully experienced life, his very interesting paper reveals us Montandon’s opinion on world and life 12 . Within the same period he wrote Un demi siècle de sejour en Roumanie – Notes et souvenirs d’un naturaliste, left in manuscript, from which there are “doar fragmente disparate” (only disparate fragments) as Professor Tãzlãuanu mentioned in 1973-1974 (Pandele, 1974) 13 . Along his life, Montandon had several periods when he had to face the lack of money. For instance, when he discovered the secret of processing the Chartreuse liqueur, he started his production, together with his brother Paul. It followed a trial lodged by Perès Chartreuse from France, a trial lost by the two brothers. Paul went back to France. Arnold continued to deal with the wine trade, because, in the mean time, he became the owner of a wineyard on Filaret hill. But, his business ran worse and worse, and he was obliged to sell the wineyard, lot by lot. He made all these things for the noble purpose of continuing the study on the fauna, study who ruled all his life. He spent his last years in Cernavodã, in «le pays le plus monotone qu’on puisse imaginer», as he characterized this place in 1887. At 66 years old, financially ruined and in a bad health, Montandon was employed at the Bolt Factory. He died on 1 st of March 1922. 1922, 3 rd of March – During the ordinary meeting of the Academy, after the receiving of the telegram from Cernavodã, which announced «încetarea din viaþã a d-lui A. L. Montandon, membru corespondent strãin în secþiunea ºtiinþificã, ales la 11 Aprilie 1905 » (A. L. Montandon’s death, foreign corresponding member in the Scientifical Department, elected on 11 th of April 1905), Grigore Antipa had an impressive speech by which he evoked the great personality, mentioning all his achievements. Antipa began his speech underlining that this lost «reprezintã o mare pierdere pentru ºtiinþã în general ºi pentru Faunistica României în special» (represents a great lost for the science, in general, and especially for the Romanian faunistic) and he ended with the words: «Sã pãstrãm dar în cinste memoria acestui modest om de ºtiinþã a cãrui viaþã a fost consacratã studiului þãrii noastre, care devenise ºi patria sa adoptivã.» (Let’s keep the memory of this modest scientist who dedicated his life for the study of our country, which became his adoptive country) (Antipa, op. cit.). * Maybe next generation want to find out and ask: What Arnold Lucien Montandon left behind? There were left the scientifical papers and most of the species discovered by him; there were left the proofs on some places and times which never come back; there were left his philosophical ideas; there were left and will resist throughout time his rich collections which spread in different places of the world, but a large part is preserved also in Bucharest, at “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, whose fame is also due to Montandon. In this museum there is the great Palaearctic and exotic heteropteran collection, with tens of
ARNOLD – LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922) 493 thousands of specimens, including type specimens, numerous coleopterans, homopterans, orthopterans, etc.; a separate collection of Palaearctic molluscs, with 1,147 specimens, with 320 species and varieties, as well as numerous exotic molluscs, preserved together with other specimens from other collections of historical value. A name remained among the foreign corresponding members of the Scientifical Department of the Golden Book of the Romanian Academy … Knowing such kind of people’s personality, their way in approaching Nature, the young scientists could become deeper in their way of thinking and could ask several questions to which they have to find the answer. So, they could understand better the complexity, beauty and the importance of the Man – Nature relationship. It is well to remind, at least from time to time, that if we are where we are today and some of us have important achievements, it is also because there were such kind of people, capable of sacrifying their time, health and all they had for the next generations. People as Montandon will dedicate their life for noble purposes wherever they settle in the World, to whom the sacrifice is never too great and who consider that they left behind only a modest contribution. Notes 1. This figure is taken from Dr. C. Istrati’s exposition from the 11th of April 1905, at the Romanian Academy. 2. “Deºi nãscut la Besançon ºi de origine francezã, Montandon a fost cetãþean elveþian” (although he was born in Besançon and was of French origin, Montandon was a Swiss citizen), wrote Sienkiewicz to the senior author, in one of his letters, sent from Gulfport-Florida, on 5 th of November 1984. 3. Members of a Christian religious sect which was founded near locality Albi from southern France, in the 12 th century. After a crusade made against them by the Pope Inocent III, the inhabitants of the Albi are defeated in 1213 and obliged to find refuge (Andrei, 1998). 4. When drawing up his paper from 1974, C. Pandele used also original documents as the paper “Arnold L. Montandon primul entomolog care a cercetat Valea Bistriþei ºi alte regiuni din þarã” (Arnold L. Montandon, the first entomologist who studied Bistriþa Valley and other regions of the country) written by F. Cârdei and I.Tãzlãuanu, in 1956, sent to the magazine Natura, but unpublished. Another original source was R. Bolomey’s letter to G. T. Kirileanu, dated 25 th of February 1942. 5. As regards the year of his employment as Antipa’s assitant, at least two wrong dates were published: V. Iuga-Ganea, who wrote on Grigore Antipa, in 1938: «C’est en 1900, que le ministère lui accorde un assistant et il s’empresse de s’assurer la collaboration de A. Montandon, versé entomologiste» and M. Bãcescu, in 1967: «Les premiers assistants au musée furent les specialistes R. Dombrowski (1895- 1916), A. Montandon (1901-1907), I. Popa Burcã et R. Canisius (1907-1934) peintre-entomologiste». 6. The register was obtained by the first author, by Dr. Igor Sienkiewicz’s extraordinary kindness, from Canada, and it will be the subject of another note. 7. We think that the wrong data from C. Istrati’s speech, namely: 1877 – Montandon’s arrival year in Romania, instead of 1872; 1886 – his retiring from Sinaia, instead of 1888 and Buºteni, instead of Broºteni – are printing errors which were made during the transcription of the speech. We make this assertion being convinced that the errors were too obvious for passing unobserved. Unfortunately these wrong data were taken over and published by several authors. 8. If we take into consideration that in his speech from the 11 th of April 1905 at the Romanian Academy, C. Istrati did not mentioned this Montandon’s decoration, maybe he received it after this date. 9. It is true that in the „Anuarul Ministerului Instrucþiunii“ (Year Book of the Ministry of Education) from 1908, Montandon is mentioned as assistant at the Museum of Natural History from Bucharest, but surely the data refers to the previous year situation, because his signature had not appeared on the paylist after April 1907. 10. Montandon had some issues as author, as it results from the post card sent to G. T. Kirileanu on February 27/9, 1915, submited by Pandele in 1974, as fotocopy. Soon, our colleague Alexandru Marinescu, well-known for his works on science history, had the pleasure of aquiring an original issue of this volume, from a second-hand bookseller, on the cover having a dedication writen by Montandon! 11. In the original version of paper Montandon writes: Sa Majesté, la Reine Elisabeth de Roumanie, vénérée dans le monde des lettres sous le pseudonyme de Carmen Sylva, l’auteur si hautement apprécié des Pensées d’une Reine, qui a doté la littérature allemande des “Pêcheurs d’Islande” de
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ARNOLD - LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922 - Travaux

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