Jonkheer

Jonkheer

Jonkheer is a Dutch honorific of nobility.-Honorific of nobility:"Jonkheer" or "Jonkvrouw" is literally translated as "young lord" or "young lady". In medieval times such a person was a young and unmarried son or daughter of a high ranking knight or nobleman...

 Bernard Aimé Léonard du Bus de Gisignies (Sint-Joost-ten-Node, June 21, 1808 - Bad Ems

Bad Ems

Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, July 6, 1874) was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 nobleman and later on a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, ornithologist and paleontologist. He was the second son of Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies

Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies

Leonard Pierre Joseph, Viscount du Bus de Gisignies was a soldier and politician in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. He was born as Leonard Pierre Joseph Dubus, but on 14 June 1822, because of name multiplication, du Bus de Gisignies was added to his name...

. He married Petronilla Truyts on 19 May 1845, together they had two children; Viscount Bernard Daniel (Sint-Joost-ten-Node, 7 October 1832-Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, 17 February 1917) and Viscount Chretien (Sint-Joost-ten-Node, 4 November 1845-Jabbeke

Jabbeke

Jabbeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Jabbeke proper, Snellegem, Stalhille, Varsenare and Zerkegem. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 13,572 inhabitants...

, 3 July 1883).

He studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 at the State university of Louvain

Catholic University of Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...

, but soon became more interested in ornithology

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

. In 1835 he presented a manuscript to the Royal Academy of Belgium

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium

There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch and French . The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels....

 in which described the bird Leptorhynchus pectoralis. He was a member of parliament for Soignies

Soignies

Soignies is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut.The municipality is composed of the Town of Soignies together with the villages of Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Neufvilles, Naast and Thieusies...

.

He became the first director of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is a museum in the Belgian capital of Brussels dedicated to natural history. Its most important pieces are 30 fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world's largest museum...

 in 1846. On this occasion he donated 2474 birds from his own collection to the museum. In 1860, during the construction of new fortifications around Antwerp he became involved in paleontology

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

. The fossils found were mainly from whales. He also obtained the skeletons from a bowhead whale

Bowhead Whale

The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...

 (Balaena mysticetus) and a young Blue Whale

Blue Whale

The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....

 (Balaenoptera musculus), which are still on display in the museum. In 1860 the skeleton of a mammoth

Mammoth

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...

 was found near Lier

Lier, Belgium

Lier is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Lier proper and the village of Koningshooikt. On January 1, 2010 Lier had a total population of 33,930. The total area is 49.70 km² which gives a population density of 669 inhabitants per...

 and was brought to the museum (on display since 1869). At that time the only other skeleton of a mammoth was on display in the museum of Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 (Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

).

In 1867 he became the director of the science section of the Royal Academy of Belgium

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium

There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch and French . The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels....

.

Source

• Bernard du Bus de Gisignies (Dutch)
• Heemkundige Kring van Malle (Ed.), Camera Obscura op Oost- en Westmalle, 1980
• Bart De Prins (Ed.), Leonard du Bus de Gisignies, Heemkundige Kring van Malle, 1999