Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre

Who was Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre?

Abbé Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre was a French naturalist who contributed sections on cetaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects to the Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique. He is also notable as the first scientist to study the feral child Victor of Aveyron.

Bonnaterre is credited with identifying about 25 new species of fish, and assembled illustrations of about 400 in his encyclopedia work.

He was the first scientist to study Victor, the wild child of Aveyron, whose life inspired François Truffaut for his film The Wild Child.