France: Engraving of a hippopotamus from 'The Natural History of the River Horse' by Georges Louis Leclerc, 1775

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon ( 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopedic author.

His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire naturelle during his lifetime; with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death.

Buffon held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes; it is the French equivalent of Kew Gardens.

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Pictures From History