Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The natural history museum of Aix-en-Provence was founded in 1838 thanks to the purchase of Madeleine Carle's bird collection, widow of an Aixese pharmacist, and the donation of the scientific collections of the first curator, geologist Henri Coquand. Originally housed in two halls of the city hall, he received donations from local naturalists such as Hippolyte de Fonscolombe and Gaston de Saporta's father. Its official opening, announced in 1839 by the Aix Memorial, marked the beginning of an institution dedicated to natural sciences, although its activity declined after Coquand's departure in 1843.

In 1892, the museum underwent a revival thanks to the major donations of Louise Rostan d'Abancourt (fossiles, minerals, prehistoric objects) and Dr Philippe Aude. These contributions allowed his transfer in 1895 to a room of the Museum of Paintings, then in 1905 in a dedicated building boulevard du Roi-René, inaugurated in front of 5,000 visitors. The First World War led to its temporary closure, followed by a reopening in 1921. In 1936, the army requisitioned the premises, forcing a hasty and disorganized move, during which part of the collections was lost, notably after the fire of the Dombre school in 1944.

The renaissance of the museum after 1945 was carried by Raymond Dughi, a volunteer curator, who supervised his installation in 1953 in the Boyer-d'Eguilles hotel, a 17th century historical monument. Local paleontological discoveries, such as dinosaur eggs in the Holy Victory (1950s), strengthened its reputation. Despite limited spaces, the museum developed external reserves in 2001 and began moving projects, notably to Parc Saint-Mitre (planned for 2019-2020). Since 2014, the collections, closed to the public, remain accessible for educational activities.

The museum collections cover six major areas: paleontology (70,000 specimens, including dinosaurs such as Rhabdodon and Arcovenator), botany (300,000 samples of herbariums, including nomenclature types), zoology (546 mammals, 1,970 birds), mineralogy (13,360 samples), prehistory (lithic tools of North Africa), and ethnology (recent objects seized by customs). The collection of phrenology, including cranial casts of historical figures such as Napoleon I or Champollion, also bears witness to his eclecticism.

Scientific research has played a key role in the recent history of the museum. Since the 1990s, his teams have conducted paleontological excavations in Provence, discovering unique specimens such as the Mistralestes arcensis (Cretaceous mammal) or dinosaur nests. In botany, the museum digitized its grasslands and participated in regional inventories (E-RecolNat program). In spite of the peripeties (closures, fires, moves), he remains a major player in the preservation of Provencal natural heritage, with 473,700 samples preserved.

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