ARNOLD - LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922 - Travaux

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482 GABRIELA ANDREI, CORNELIU PANDELE Moldova and Dobrogea, before 1918) and then, referring only to Montandon, he said «lucrarea sa capitalã, apãrutã în 1906 (…) un fel de inventar, catalog-listã al tuturor gasteropodelor colectate de el, amintind ºi localitãþile de unde au fost adunate» (his chief paper, published in 1906 (…) a kind of inventory, listed catalogue of all gastropods collected by him, also mentioning the collecting localities) (Andrei, 2005). In Istoria biologiei în date (The History of Biology with data), published in 1996, in the chapter dedicated to Entomology, Matilda Lãcãtuºu underlines A. L. Montandon’s contribution, considering him «unul dintre precursorii entomologiei româneºti» (one of the forerunners of the Romanian entomology), together with Aristide Caradja, Constantin Hormuzaki and Eduard Fleck, his contemporaries. Besides he was of French origin and had come in Romania since his juvenile years, we found out that he published his papers on heteropterans in “Buletinul Societãþii de ªtiinþe” (Bulletin of the Science Society) from Bucharest, and his scientifical activity lasted 40 years «aducând o mare contribuþie la cunoaºterea faunei din România» (having a large contribution to the knowledge of the Romanian fauna). It is also mentioned that he received «ca specialist renumit» (as a well-known specialist) material for study from further continents and «ca rezultat al activitãþii sale a lãsat o valoroasã colecþie de Heteroptere, aflatã astãzi la Muzeul “Grigore Antipa” » (as a result of his activity he made a valuable heteropteran collection, today preserved in “Grigore Antipa” Museum). In 2005, on the ocassion of 100 years celebration since Montandon was appointed Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, a large article dedicated to the naturalist’s biological view was published in Galaþi (Pandele, 2005). Even if at least ten books and notes were published during the last decades, entirely dedicated to the great naturalist, few people know the importance of his contribution today, not only by the 400 new described taxa, by over 200 papers 1 published in the most known periodical journals, the richness of his entomological and malacological collections, but also by his entire activity, always for the benefit of Science, Nature and his Adoptive Country. He was the member of some of the most famous scientifical societies and collaborated with the great museums of the world, as Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle de Paris, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Musée National Hongrois, Muséum entomologique de Berlin, Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R. Università di Torino, U. S. National Museum of Natural History etc. (Fig. 1). As Igor Sienkiewicz wrote, although Montandon did not participated to any expedition «his prodigious activity he built mostly on the material he received from dozens of people from all continents, with whom Montandon kept a vast correspondence. Some were distinguished scientists who co-operated with him; others, collectors or explorers who set foot in some of the wildest countries of the world, sent whole entomological treasures to the Bucharest worker, who based on them described the many exotic species that bear Montandon’s name. (…) His works gained A. L. Montandon a world wide reputation in the field of both aquatic and terrestrial Heteroptera, Palaearctic as well as Neotropical (Indo-Malayan and Australian). His discoveries refer to such different families as Naucoridae, Belostomatidae, Nepidae, Ranatridae, Berytidae, Lygaeidae, Tingidae, Coreidae, Pentatomidae, Cydnidae, Plataspidae, etc., etc. » (Sienkiewicz, op. cit.). Montandon’s name is bounded by the first studies on the fauna of Moldova, Muntenia and Dobrogea. We found the comment in “Istoricul cercetãrilor”
ARNOLD – LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922) 483 (Research History) in many volumes of Fauna României, from the very first volume, Îndrumãtor: Protozoare, Viermi, Artropode (Guide Book: Protozoans, Worms, Arthropods), published in 1951. We mention some of them, after the publishing year order: Panin, 1952; Grossu, 1956; Popescu-Gorj, Niculescu, Alexinschi, 1958; Knechtel & Popovici-Bîznoºeanu, 1959; Fuhn, 1960; Fuhn & Vancea, 1961; Panin & Sãvulescu, 1961; Grossu, 1962; Niculescu, 1963, 1965; Cîrdei & Bulimar, 1965; Dobreanu & Manolache, 1969; Niculescu & König, 1970; Kis, Nagler, Mândru, 1970 and others. All references to the three provinces, published in French in the famous periodical journal of the time, undoubtedly contributed to the knowledge of Romania abroad. The fifty years lived in this country are years of an intense activity. It was a rich life, with numerous studies on Nature and men, always searching for the Truth, always in the benefit of Science and of his Adoptive Country. Here it is his brief characterization made by Constantin Istrati, in his speech at the Romanian Academy on 11 th of April 1905: «Montandon e o fire deschisã, o inimã largã, observator ºi luptãtor ales, pasionat entomolog, ºi un convins ºi încercat filoromân» (Montandon is an opened hearted person, a special observer and fighter, a passionate entomologist, a categorical and experienced philo-Romanian (Analele Academiei, 1904-1905). * For mentioning as many data as possible we decided to use their chronological presentation. Because an A. L. Montandon Bibliography (Andrei, 1993) was already published, here we mentioned especially the papers referring to Romania. Where it was necessary, we added some titles which were omitted or were published with incomplete bibliographical notes in “Bibliography” (marked by *) as well as papers referring to the foreign fauna, with a certain significance in our comment. Chronology He was born on 26th of November 1852, in France, at Besançon2 . He was the first of Henri-Louis Montandon (1821-1884) and Marie-Lina Wuilleumier’s (1825- 1918) five children. His father was born at Plan-du-Four (Travers) and was the descendant of the old family of Montandons, who had come in Franche-Comté and in Switzerland around 1200. When he settled at Besançon around 1848-1850, he was a very well-known watchmaker and inventor in this field, his name being mentioned in the specialized papers, as Dictionnaire des grands-horlogers. Marie-Lina Wuilleumier was born at Besançon, where Wuilleumiers practiced watchmaking since the beginning of the 19th century (F.-J. Montandon, 1913; Andrei, 2006). The origin of the family and of the name of Montandon are bound by the locality Montandon from Doubs Department (France), attested by a document from 1136 (Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse, 1928). «Comme chaque nation, chaque famille a ses légendes, plus ou moins intéressantes, plus ou moins vraisemblables, mais toujours dignes de retenir un moment l’attention, avant de faire place à l’histoire (…). Selon la tradition, les Montandon descendraient d’Albigeois3 qui se seraient réfugiés sur les hauts plateaux du Jura dans la première moitié du XIIIe siècle» (Montandon, F.-J. op. cit.). From the second half of the 14th century, Montandons were also mentioned in Switzerland, in Locle region, where they would receive the nobiliary title of “Bourgeois de Valangin” in 1502. In 1913 Montandons were present not only in France and Switzerland but also in England,
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ARNOLD - LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922 - Travaux

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