Alcide Dessalines d’Orbigny was born on 6 September 1802 in Couëron (near Nantes), France. In his early youth, he developed a life interest in the study of a group of microscopic animals that he named ‘Foraminifera’. In his first scientific work, devoted

Alcide Dessalines d’Orbigny was born on 6 September 1802 in Couëron (near Nantes), France. In his early youth, he developed a life interest in the study of a group of microscopic animals that he named ‘Foraminifera’. In his first scientific work, devoted

Alcide d’Orbigny’s foraminiferal work appeared almost 100 years before serious studies of Foraminifera began in America. Americans both under- and well-appreciated d’Orbigny, but he was rejected by the British, who believed most Foraminifera were variations