Voyage round the World

Trained as a surgeon and pharmacist at the Naval Medical School, René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849) won distinction as a zoologist and, more generally, as a naturalist over the course of his career. In 1820, he was appointed curator of the Naval Medical School’s Natural History Cabinet with the task of managing and ensuring reasoned classification of its collections. Its contents were used to further students’ education and disseminate knowledge on specimens, many of which were largely unknown at the time.

A scientist around the world

René Primevère Lesson also contributed to the development of scientific knowledge by taking part in an expedition around the world on board the corvette La Coquille from1822 to 1825. Following the success of the Uranie’s, voyage, the naval officers and explorers Louis-Isidore Duperrey (1786-1865) and Jules Dumont d’Urville (1790-1842) set about organising a new round-the-world voyage. Its scientific programme was entrusted to two ship’s doctors, one of whom was the surgeon and pharmacist René Primevère Lesson. Work on zoology, botany, mineralogy, astronomy, ethnology and cartography was carried out in a typically 19th-century spirit, a mindset that embraced all the sciences.

As well as bringing back thousands of plant and animal specimens, René Primevère Lesson also contributed to an imposing publication on the voyage’s results. The book Voyage autour du monde exécuté par ordre du Roi sur la corvette La Coquille (Voyage around the World Carried Out by Order of the King on the Corvette La Coquille), conserved in the Naval Medical School’s library, is a reminder of the active role played in voyages of scientific exploration by the physicians, surgeons and pharmacists who were trained at the institution.

These days, the library’s collection is open for consultation upon appointment. Guided tours lasting 1h30 also enable visitors to acquaint themselves with heritage literary works.