Baron Cuvier Georges (Born August 23, 1769) was a French naturalist and founder of the fields of comparative anatomy and vertebrate paleontology. He was born at Montbéliard in the same year as William Smith and Alexander von Humboldt. Montbéliard is near the Swiss border and the environment in which Georges grew made his to fall in love with nature at a tender age. He was the son of Clémentine Chatel and Jean-Georges Cuvier. In 1829, he was made a baron in honor of his contributions to science, but he was not even born a member of the hereditary nobility. Georges’ father was a military officer of low rank, and he managed to reach the highest levels of academic achievement only on the basis of his hard work, a tenacious memory and study. His success is attributed to his mother who started him off on the path of scholarship.
His mother taught him to read effortlessly at the age of 4 years. Every morning, she took him to an elementary school, and so meticulously made him repeat his lessons to her. Although herself ignorant of Latin, his mother always ensured he was always better prepared for and with his tasks than any other boy at the school. Apart from his academic achievements, he was also popular with the public. He often liked to entertain crowds with his phenomenal knowledge of comparative anatomy. A good example is when he would examine the inner part of a fossil-bearing rock, and after that say what animal he believed was hidden inside.
