HAUY

HAUY, Renè Just. (Born: St.-Just-en-Chaussèe ,Oise, France, 28 February 1743; Died: Paris, France, 1 June 1822)
Born to a poor family, Hauy received a good classical and theological education by means of a scholarship to the College de Navarre in Paris. In 1770, after he was ordained a priest, Ha¨uy was assigned a teaching post at the College Cardinal Lemoine. There he became interested in botany, but after attending Daubenton’s lectures on mineralogy he turned his attention to mineralogy. Hauy
was elected an associate member of the Paris Academy of Science in February 1783. In 1793, after the publication of his Essai d’une Theorie sur la Structure des Cristaux (Paris, 1794), he left teaching to devote his full attention to mineralogical studies.
Hauy’s first printed book was fundamental in establishing a solid foundation on which modern theories of crystal structure rest. In it, Hauy brought together the advances crystallography
made by Romè de l’Isle, Bergman and others into a coherent structural theory, based on the structural unit, the “molecule constituante” (later renamed by him to “molecule integrante”). Hauy’s model depicted crystals as built up out of these molecular units which were polyhedral in form. Hauy also theorized a common “nucleus” or “primitive form” for all crystals of the same “species.” This primative form was often revealed by cleavage of a crystal symmetrically along its angles and edges. Hauy’s theory of crystal structure changed little in its essentials during the remainder of his career, which went on for almost forty years after the publication of the Essai.
After the introduction, the text is divided into ten articles, the first two of which describe the structure of crystals based upon primary and secondary forms. The next seven articles apply the theory to various minerals, while the final chapter gives observations and conjectures on the formation of crystals.
During the French revolution, he placed himself in jeopardy by refusing to swear the oath required by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. He was arrested, but through the efforts of his former student, E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Hauy was released the night before the others prisoners were executed. In 1793 he was appointed to the Commission of Weights and Measures. Also, in 1793, he attempted unsuccessfully to gain the release of A. Lavoisier. In 1795, he was appointed an instructor of physics and mineralogy at the ´Ecole des Mines (School of Mines). After the death of D. Dolomieu, he succeeded to the post of professor of mineralogy at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle (Museum of Natural History), where he greatly enlarged the mineral collection. In 1809, Hauy also assumed the newly created chair of mineralogy at the Sorbonne. He retained these posts until his death.
Hauy’s own 12,000 specimen mineral collection was sold in 1823 to the Duke of Buckingham. In 1848, it was returned to France when the Jardine des Plantes purchased it from the Duke’s heirs. Today, over 6,000 specimens labeled in Hauy’s handwriting have been identified.