Alfred Mathieu Giard

Who was Alfred Mathieu Giard?

Alfred Mathieu Giard was a French zoologist born in Valenciennes on August 8, 1846.

In 1867 he began his studies of natural sciences at the École Normale Supérieure, followed by work as préparateur de zoologie at the laboratory of Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers in Paris. In 1872 he defended his doctoral thesis with a study on compound ascidians titled Recherches sur les ascidies composées ou synascidies.

From 1873 to 1882 he was professeur suppléant of natural history at the Faculty of Sciences in Lille, and in 1887 became a lecturer at the École Normale Supérieure. In 1874 he founded a biological station at Wimereux. He is credited for putting together an excellent school of zoology at Lille, and from 1888 until his death was a professor at the Faculté des Sciences of Paris, holding the chair of "evolution of living organisms". Following his death he was succeeded at the Wimereux station by Maurice Caullery. Among his numerous students and assistants was philosopher of science Félix Le Dantec.

He is remembered for his extensive research of crustaceans, particularly Epicaridea and members of the family Bopyridae. In 1877 he was the first scientist to describe the phylum Orthonectida.