Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/134

 DAEWIN

DAVID

(1794-96) is a Deistic view of evolution of very advanced and original character for the time. D. Apr. 18, 1802.

DARWIN, Sir Francis, D.Sc., M.B., F.E.S., botanist, third son of Charles Darwin. B. Aug. 16, 1848. Ed. Cam bridge (Trinity College) and St. George s Hospital (London). He never practised medicine, but assisted his father. After the death of his father he removed to Cambridge, becoming University Lecturer in Botany in 1884 and University Eeader in Botany in 1888. He was President of the British Association in 1908, and was knighted in 1913. Besides the biography of his father, he has written a number of works and papers on botany. He sent a cordial greeting to the Eationalist Press dinner in 1919.

DARWIN, Sir George Howard, F.E.S., astronomer, second son of Charles Darwin. B. 1846. Ed. private school Clapham and Cambridge (University College). He was second wrangler and Smith s prizeman in 1868. In 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cam bridge, and he held the chair until his death. In 1892 he received the Gold Medal of the Eoyal Astronomical Society. Sir George Darwin was the author of the accepted theory of the moon s origin, and has done other valuable work in astronomy. D. Dec. 7, 1912.

DARWIN, Major Leonard, Sc.D., engineer, youngest son of Charles Darwin. B. Jan. 15, 1850. Ed. Woolwich Eoyal Military Academy. He entered the Engi neers in 1871, became a Major in 1889, and retired in 1890. From 1885 to 1890 Major Darwin was in the Staff Intelligence Department at the War Office, and he served on several scientific expeditions, such as those which went to observe the transit of Venus in 1874 and 1882. He was M.P. for Lichfield 1892-95, and President of the Eoyal Geographical Society 1908-1911 ; and he has been 195

President of the Eugenics Education Society since 1911 and Chairman of the Bedford College for Women since 1913. He is also Treasurer of the National Com mittee for Combating Venereal Diseases.

DAUDET, Alphonse, French novelist. B. May 13, 1840. He went to Paris, from Ntmes, in 1857, and in the following year published his first work, a volume of poems. In 1862 he wrote his first play, La derniere idole. He served in the Franco-Prussian War, and afterwards joined the staff of the Journal Officiel. The Aventures de Tartarin de Tarascon (1872) laid the foundation of his high repute as a novelist. In 1886 he was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour. D. Dec. 16, 1897.

DAUNOU, Pierre Claude Francois,

French historian. B. Aug. 13, 1761. He was a priest and professor of philosophy of the Oratory until the suppression of the religious orders, but in 1792 he rejected the priesthood and Christianity and entered the National Convention. Paine was his colleague. He was conspicuous for modera tion and reform, and was in 1795 first president of the Council of Five Hundred. In 1807 he became Archivist of the Empire, and in 1810 published a learned and anti clerical Essai historique sur la puissance temporelle des Papes. After the Eestoration he occupied the chair of history and morals at the College de France, and he sat in the Chambre from 1818 to 1834. His works are numerous and weighty. D. June 20, 1840.

DAYID, Jacques Louis, French painter. B. Aug. 31, 1748. Ed. College des Quatre Nations (Paris). In 1775 he won the Grand Prix de Eome, and studied in Italy. On his return to France his genius was at once recognized, and in 1790 he was commissioned by the Government to paint revolutionary pictures. He sat in the National Conven tion, and organized the national festivals. David was entirely pagan in spirit, and an enthusiast for Greece and Eome. Napoleon 193