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Key figures

Origin and history

The Natural History Museum of Troyes came into being in the late 18th century during the French Revolution. His first collections are made up of teachers from the Central School of the Dawn, including Dr François Serqueil (1768-1814), who teaches botany and zoology. The objects come from the National Museum of Natural History, the École des Mines de Paris, and from the remains of the cabinet of the Count of Brienne, guillotined in 1794. The latter, Louis-Marie-Athanase de Loménie, had gathered in his Brienne castle a cabinet of natural history, physics and a library. Upon the dissolution of the central school in 1802, the collections were transferred to the city of Troyes and entrusted to the Lycée, the future Academic Society of the Dawn, with Serqueil as curator.

In 1814, an incendiary bomb destroyed part of the collections during the French campaign, and Dr.Serqueil died of typhus by caring for the soldiers. The museum then fell into oblivion until 1826, when the Academic Society of the Dawn revived the collections. In 1829, the collections of botany, zoology and geology were gathered, enriched by gifts and objects saved from the first museum. In 1831, the museum left the prefecture to settle in the former Saint-Loup Abbey, and officially opened to the public on 6 January 1833 as the Cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle. It becomes a teaching place, hosting weekly courses.

In the 19th century, collections were enriched by donations from amateur naturalists, often members of learned societies such as the Academic Society of the Dawn. These enthusiasts organize field trips, collect specimens and publish articles, contributing to the expansion of collections. On 20 January 1967, the Academic Society transferred all the collections — almost half a million specimens covering zoology, botany and geology — to the city of Troyes. These collections, built in the 19th and 20th centuries, come from all over the world, through collections, purchases and exchanges.

Among the rarity preserved are missing species such as the Java tiger, the Corsican deer or the migrating pigeon, as well as unique pieces in paleontology, such as a giant pterosaure humerus of more than seven meters in scale, the largest discovered in France. Charles Plumier's herbarium (1646-1704), a botanist by Louis XIV, and the meteorite collection, France's third largest, are among the museum's jewels. These scientific and historical treasures bear witness to the development of the natural sciences in Troyes and the commitment of local learned societies.

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