Antoinefortun Marion

Vocation

Notable

French naturalist with interests in geology, zoology, and botany. A school friend of Paul Cézanne's in Aix, Antoine Fortuné Marion went on to become professor and director of the Natural History Museum in Marseille. Cézanne painted his portrait in 1866–1867 at the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan. He received his higher education in Marseille, earning his arts and letters degree in 1866 and his degree in sciences in 1868. In 1878 he opened a marine laboratory with financial assistance provided by the city of Marseille. In 1880 he became director of the Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Marseille. He was a good friend of Gaston de Saporta, with whom he collaborated on works in the field of botany. As a zoologist, his research included studies of segmented marine worms, free-living roundworms of the Mediterranean, nemerteans, rotifers, zoantharians, alcyonarians, parasites that affected crustaceans and investigations of the class Enteropneusta. As a result of his work in the fight against Phylloxera (an aphid-like pest), he was given awards by the French and foreign governments. He was a founder of the publication Annales du Musée d'histoire naturelle de Marseille. He died on 22 January 1900, aged 53, in Aix-en-Provence. Link to Wikipedia biography