| Surname | Saussure, de | |
| First Name | Horace Bénédict | |
| Gender | male | |
| Place of birth | Conches | |
| Place of death | Geneva | |
| Year of birth | 1740 | |
| Year of death | 1799 | |
| Profession | Professor, scientist | |
| Religion | Protestant | |
| Place(s) of activity | Geneva | |
| Century | 18 | |
| Biographical information |
Son of Nicolas de Saussure and Renée de La Rive. In 1765, he married Albertine Amélie Boissier. They have three children; Nicolas Théodore (1767-1845), Albertine (1766-1841) and Alphonse Jean François (1770-1853). Horace Benedict became professor of philosophy at the Academy of Geneva and one of the great pioneers of physical geography. He climbed Mont Blanc in August 1787. The publication of his Essays on hygrometry (1783) and the expedition to Chamonix (1788) found a physical approach to meteorology. He invented or perfected several instruments such as the heliothermometer (1774) or the hygrometer (1775). Between 1779 and 1796 he published four volumes of his travels in the Alps. When he was rector of the academy (1774-1776), de Saussure published a Reform Project for the College of Geneva (1774). He was also a member of the Council of Two Hundred (1782-1792), then of the Council of Sixty (1789-1792). He opposed the attempt of revolution of 1782, before adopting a more conciliatory tone in 1793-1794. He was founder in 1776 of the Society of Arts of Geneva (president 1793-1799) and foreign member of the Royal Society of London (1788), as well as of the Academy of sciences of Paris (1790). |
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| Title | s.t. | |
| Genre / Art |
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| Additional genre details | ||
| Period writen | 1774-1778 | |
| Period covered | 1774-1778 | |
| Format / Language | manuscript, French | |
| Physical description | 8 notebooks |
| Content | Diary of his travels to the Mont-Blanc, Gotthard, Auvergne, Neuchâtel, Grindelwald and Graubünden, Salève, Montou and Esery. They contain notes, observations and geographical descriptions, temperature and barometric measurements. The people the writer meets are also described. |
| Place of deposit | BGE |
| Classification | Ms. fr. 14 |
| Document | |
| Transcription | |
| Restrictions | |
| Edition(s) | |
| Secondary litterature |
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Journal d'un voyage à Chamouni et à la Cime du Mont-Blanc en juillet et aoust 1787, Lyon : chez M. Audin, 1926 |
| Other sources | |
| Related documents | |
| Author | FF |
