View source for Jean-Henri Fabre

{{short description|French naturalist, entomologist and author}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = jean-henri_fabre.jpg
| birth_date        = {{birth-date|21 December 1823}}
| birth_place       = [[Saint-Léons]], [[Aveyron]], [[Bourbon Restoration in France|France]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=y|1915|10|11|1823|12|22}}
| death_place       = [[Sérignan-du-Comtat]], [[Vaucluse]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
| field             = [[Entomology]]
| known_for         = ''Souvenirs Entomologiques'' (texts on insects and arachnids)
| author_abbrev_zoo = '''Fabre'''
}}
'''Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre''' ({{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃ʁi kazimiʁ fabʁ}}; 21 December 1823 – 11 October 1915) was a French [[naturalist]], [[entomologist]], and author known for the lively style of his popular books on the lives of insects.<ref>Going, Charles Buxton. (1935). "Henri Fabre, Educator and Naturalist". ''[[The American Scholar (magazine)|The American Scholar]]''. Vol. '''4''', No. 1, pp. 100-108</ref>

==Biography==
Fabre was born on 21 December 1823 in [[Saint-Léons]] in [[Aveyron]], [[France]].
Fabre was largely an [[autodidact]], owing to the poverty of his family. Nevertheless, he acquired a primary teaching certificate at the age of 19 and began teaching in Carpentras whilst pursuing further studies. In 1849, he was appointed to a teaching post in Ajaccio (Corsica), then in 1853 moved on to the lycée in Avignon.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Autié|first1=Dominique|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvvaAAAAMAAJ|title=Jean Henri Fabre: maisons, chemin faisant|last2=Astorg|first2=Sylvie|date=1999|publisher=C. Pirot|isbn=978-2-86808-136-0|pages=57|language=fr|quote=Avignon , les bruits de la ville Nommé professeur adjoint de physique et de chimie au lycée d ' Avignon en janvier 1853 , Fabre songe d ' abord à louer une maison à Villeneuvelès}}</ref>

[[File:Jean Henri Fabre Nadar.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Jean Henri Fabre by [[Nadar (artist)|Nadar]]]]
Fabre was a popular teacher, [[physicist]], [[chemist]] and [[botanist]]. However, he is probably best known for his findings in the field of entomology, the study of insects, and is considered by many to be the father of modern entomology. Much of his enduring popularity is due to his marvellous teaching ability and his manner of writing about the lives of insects in biographical form, which he preferred to a clinically detached, journalistic mode of recording. {{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In doing so he combined what he called "my passion for scientific truth" with keen observations and an engaging, colloquial style of writing. Fabre (translated) wrote:

{{blockquote|Others again have reproached me with my style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, the dryness of the schools. They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth. Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure.}}
[[File:The mason-bees (IA masonbees00fabriala).pdf|thumb|''The Mason Bees'' published in 1914]]
His ''Souvenirs Entomologiques'' is a series of texts on insects and arachnids. He influenced the later writings of [[Charles Darwin]], who called Fabre "an inimitable observer".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |title=The origins of species |publisher=New York : P.F. Collier |year=1872 |edition=6th |publication-date=1909 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref> Fabre, however, was a Christian who remained sceptical about Darwin's [[theory of evolution]], as he always held back from all theories and systems. His special force was exact and detailed observation, field research, always avoiding general conclusions from his observations, which he considered premature.<ref>Grant, Susan T. (1976). "Reflections: Fabre and Darwin: A Study in Contrasts", ''[[BioScience]]''. Vol. '''26''', No. 6. pp. 395-398<br>- Yavetz, Ido. (1988). "Jean Henri Fabre and Evolution: Indifference or Blind Hatred?", ''History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences''. Vol. '''10''', No. 1. pp. 3-36.<br>- McCarthy, John Daly (1915). "Jean-Henri Fabre: A Great Catholic Scientist", ''[[Catholic World]]''. Vol. '''100''', pp. 662-670</ref>

In one of Fabre's most famous experiments, he arranged [[pine processionary]] caterpillars to form a continuous loop around the edge of a pot. As each caterpillar instinctively followed the silken trail of the caterpillars in front of it, the group moved around in a circle for seven days.<ref>Fabre, ''[http://www.efabre.net/chapter-iii-the-pine-processionary-the-procession The Life of the Caterpillar]'', Chapter III "The Pine Processionary: The Procession".</ref> He further was able to forecast low atmospheric pressure events by observing the behaviours of the caterpillars.<ref>Fabre, ''[http://www.efabre.net/chapter-iv-the-pine-processionary-meteoroogy The Life of the Caterpillar]'', Chapter IV. "The Pine Processionary: Meteorology".</ref>

He died on 11 October 1915.<ref>{{cite news |title=Henri Fabre Dies In France At 92; Noted Entomologist Was Described by Victor Hugo as "The Insects' Homer." |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/10/12/105042637.pdf |quote=Henri Fabre, the entomologist, is dead. He was born in France in 1823. Henri Fabre, whom Victor Hugo described as "The Insects' Homer," ... |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=12 October 1915 |access-date=1 October 2012 }}</ref>  
In the English speaking world, he became known through the extensive translations of his work by [[Alexander Teixeira de Mattos]], carried out from 1912 to 1922.

==Works==
[[File:Jean Henri Fabre 4350858439 953fe87fb6 o.jpg|thumb|upright|Fabre circa 1913]]
{{library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=51689251}}
* ''Scène de la vie des insectes''
* ''Chimie agricole'' (textbook) (1862)
* ''La Terre'' (1865)
* ''Le Ciel'' (textbook) (1867) - [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2059691 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Le livre d’histoires, récits scientifiques de l’oncle Paul à ses neveux. Lectures courantes pour toutes les écoles'' (textbook) (1869) - [http://gerardgreco.free.fr/spip.php?article38 High definition PDF file]  
* ''Catalogue des « Insectes Coléoptères observés aux environs d'Avignon »'' (1870)
* ''Les Ravageurs'' (1870)
* ''Les Auxiliaires, récits de l’oncle Paul sur les animaux utiles à l’agriculture'' (1873) [http://gerardgreco.free.fr/spip.php?article36 High definition PDF file]  
* ''Aurore'' (textbook) (1874) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1095320.pagination Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Botanique'' (textbook) (1874)
* ''L'Industrie'' (textbook) (1875)
* ''Les Serviteurs'' (textbook) (1875)
* ''Sphériacées du Vaucluse'' (1878)
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 1st series (1879) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k99159x.r=Souvenirs+entomologiques.langFR Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Etude sur les moeurs des Halictes'' (1879)
* ''Le Livre des Champs'' (1879)
* ''Lectures sur la Botanique'' (1881)
* ''Nouveaux souvenirs entomologiques'' – 2nd series (1882) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099160&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Lectures sur la Zoologie'' (1882)
* ''Zoologie'' (textbook) (1884)
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 3rd series (1886) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099161&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Histoire naturelles'' (textbook) (1889)
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 4th series (1891) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099162&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''La plante : leçons à mon fils sur la botanique'' (livre scolaire) (1892) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62033n Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 5th series (1897) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099163&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 6th series (1900) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099164&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 7th series (1901) – [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=N099165&E=0 Scanned text on Gallica]
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 8th series (1903)
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 9th series (1905)
* ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' – 10th series (1909)
* ''[[Fabre's Book of Insects]]'' retold from Alexander Teixeira de Mattos' translation of Fabre's ''Souvenirs entomologiques'' [https://archive.org/details/fabresbookofinse00fabriala Scanned book]
* ''Oubreto Provençalo dou Felibre di Tavan'' (1909) [http://www.e-fabre.com/biographie/poesie.htm  Text on Jean-Henri Fabre, e-museum]
* ''La Vie des insectes'' (1910)
* ''Mœurs des insectes'' (1911)
* ''Les Merveilles de l'instinct chez les insectes'' (1913)
* ''Le monde merveilleux des insectes'' (1921)
* ''Poésie françaises et provençales'' (1925) (final edition)
* ''La Vie des araignées'' (1928)
* ''Bramble-Bees and Others'' [https://archive.org/details/bramblebeesandot03421gut Scanned book], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3421 Project Gutenberg full text]
* ''The Life of the Grasshopper''. Dodd, Mead, and company, 1917. ASIN B00085HYR4
* ''Insect Adventures''. Dodd, Mead, 1917. Selections from Alexander Teixeira de Mattos' translation of Fabre's ''Souvenirs entomologiques'', retold for young people.
* ''The Life of the Caterpillar''. Dodd, Mead, 1919. ASIN B00089FB2A
* ''Field, Forest, and Farm: Things interesting to young nature lovers, including some matters of moment to gardeners and fruit-growers''. The Century Company, 1919. ASIN B00085PDU4 [http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/HistChldBks&CISOPTR=44538&REC=16 Full text]
* ''This Earth of Ours: Talks about Mountains and Rivers, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Geysers & Other Things''. Albert & Charles Boni, 1923. ASIN B000EHLE22
* ''The Life of The Scorpion''. University Press of the Pacific, 2002 (reprinted from the 1923 edition). {{ISBN|0-89875-842-4}}
* ''The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles''. Dodd, Mead, 1919. ASIN B000882F2K
* ''The Mason Bees'' (Translated) Garden City, 1925. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_mason-bees_(IA_masonbees00fabriala).pdf] ASIN B00086XXU0; Reprinted in 2004 by Kessinger Publishing; {{ISBN|1-4179-1676-1}}; {{ISBN|978-1-4179-1676-4}} [https://archive.org/details/themasonbees02884gut Scanned book], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2884 Project Gutenberg full text]
* ''Curiosities of Science''. The Century Company, 1927. ASIN B00086KVBE
* ''The Insect World of J. Henri Fabre''.  Introduction and Interpretive Comments by Edwin Way Teale; foreword to 1991 edition by Gerald Durrell.  Published by Dodd, Mead in 1949; Reprinted by Beacon Press in 1991; {{ISBN|0-8070-8513-8}}
* ''The Life of the Spider'' (1912) (Translated) preface by Maurice Maeterlinck [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Life_of_the_Spider.djvu Scanned book], [[:wikisource:The Life of the Spider|Wikisource full text]]
* ''The Life of the Fly''. (Translated) Fredonia Books, 2001. {{ISBN|1-58963-026-2}}; {{ISBN|978-1-58963-026-0}} [https://archive.org/details/thelifeoftheflyw03422gut Scanned book]
* ''The Hunting Wasps''. University Press of the Pacific, 2002. {{ISBN|1-4102-0007-8}}; {{ISBN|978-1-4102-0007-5}}
* ''More Hunting Wasps'' [https://archive.org/details/morehuntingwasps03462gut Scanned book] [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3462 Project Gutenberg full text]
* ''The Wonders of Instinct: Chapters in the Psychology of Insects''. University Press of the Pacific, 2002. {{ISBN|0-89875-768-1}}; {{ISBN|978-0-89875-768-2}} [https://archive.org/details/thewondersofinst03754gut Scanned book], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3754 Project Gutenberg full text]
* ''Social Life in the Insect World'' [https://archive.org/details/sociallifeinthei18350gut Scanned book], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18350 Project Gutenberg full text]
* ''Insect life'' [https://archive.org/details/InsectLife Scanned book]

==Legacy==
The site of his birth, at St Léons, near [[Millau]] is now the site of [[Micropolis (La Cité des Insectes)|Micropolis]], a tourist attraction dedicated to popularising entomology and a museum on his life.

His last home and office, the [[Harmas de Fabre]] in [[Provence]] is similarly a museum devoted to his life and work. His insect collection is preserved in the [[Musée Requien]] in [[Avignon]]. {{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The French post office commemorated Fabre in 1956 with a [[Philately|stamp]] depicting a portrait of him.<ref>[http://www.bugsonstamps.com/france/france_03_fabre.htm Fabre commemorative postage stamp] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311041022/http://www.bugsonstamps.com/france/france_03_fabre.htm |date=11 March 2007 }}</ref>

The 1951 biographical film ''[[Monsieur Fabre]]'' is devoted to his life.

''Blood of the Mantis'', a 2009 fantasy novel by the British author [[Adrian Tchaikovsky]] is dedicated to Fabre.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tchaikovsky|first=Adrian |title=Blood of the Mantis|year=2010 |isbn=978-1-61614-199-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zkmQgAACAAJ}}</ref>

Fabre appears as the only major human character in a [[Caper story]] parody set on his property in [[Matthew Bennardo]]'s short story "The Famous Fabre Fly Caper".<ref>[http://www.grumpsjournal.com/jue4/stories/jue4-bennardo.html "The Famous Fabre Fly Caper"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Biographies==
* G.V. Legros, ([[Bernard Miall]], translator), ''Fabre, Poet of Science''. T. Fisher Unwin, 1913. (Reprinted by University Press of the Pacific, 2002, {{ISBN|0-89875-945-5}}; {{ISBN|978-0-89875-945-7}}) [https://archive.org/details/fabrepoetofscien00legriala Scanned book]
* E.L. Bouvier, "The Life and Work of J.H. Fabre". ''Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1916'', pages 587–597.
* Augustin Fabre, [https://archive.org/details/lifeofjeanhenrif00fabriala ''The Life of Jean Henri Fabre'']. Dodd, Mead, 1921. [https://archive.org/details/lifeofjeanhenrif00fabriala Scanned version on the Internet Archive]
* Percy F. Bicknell, ''The Human Side of Fabre''. The Century Company, 1923.
* [[Eleanor Doorly]], ''The Insect Man'', William Heinemann, 1936
* Stephan Krall, ''Vom Leben und Sterben der Insekten. Die Welt des Jean-Henri Fabre'', Hirzel, Stuttgart, 2023.
==External links==
*{{Wikisource author-inline}}
*{{wikiquote-inline}}
*{{wikispecies-inline}}
*{{commons category-inline}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=735}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4524}}
*[http://www.e-fabre.com/en/ Jean-Henri Fabre: e-museum]
*[http://www.efabre.net/ The Amazing World of the Insects of Jean-Henri Fabre]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060512024446/http://www.micropolis-insectworld.com/micropolis_uk/index_uk.html Micropolis] In English
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061104055823/http://www.musee-jeanhenrifabre.com/ The museum and birth house of Jean-Henri Fabre] In French

{{Natural history}}
{{Zoology}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|France|Insects|}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabre, Jean Henri}}
[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:French entomologists]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:19th-century French writers]]
[[Category:20th-century French non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:19th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:Insects in culture]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:Nature writers|Fabre]]