Jean Henri Fabre
Fabre, the great father of insects, was born in a small village called Saint-Leon in France in 1923. As his family was poor, he was placed under the care of his grandparents in a remote cottage in a mountain.
Fabre wanted to be a university professor, but he was too poor to be a professor.
One day he was visited by Minister of Education Victor du Louis, who was deeply moved by Fabre's research spirit. Du Louis conferred a medal of honor on Fabre.
Fabre opened a lecture class for women with the help of du Louis. But he soon lost his job because of the opposition of the church and some jealous teachers. At last Fabre decided to move to Orange.
Being out of work, Fabre began to write books after thinking about it for a while. Fabre's books were so easy for children to read that they were popular. He wrote a lot of easy-to-read books dealing with mathematics, nature, and stories.
When Fabre was 55 years old, his wife Marie died of a disease. And even his son died of a disease after a while. Fabre was deeply distressed by their death. While writing Souvenirs Entomologiques, he named a species of bees after his son.
While writing Souvenirs Entomologiques, Fabre only observed insects enthusiastically. He was once arrested by a police officer who looked at him suspiciously when he was absorbed in observing insects, absolutely motionless.
Fabre continued his researches and announced his Souvenirs Entomologiques, and as a result he was able to own a small laboratory called "Armas." But people didn't like him very much. They treated him as a strange old man and kept clear of him.
Fabre completed Souvenirs Entomologiques Vol. 10 at the age of 84. Then people came to see that he was a famous man and began to help him. Dr. Rogro, one of Fabre's students, set the "Date of Fabre" and held a festival.
"I want to see Armas."
At the age of 90, Fabre walked with his family in Armas (the name of a square in Santiago, Chile). And when his disease worsened in November of that year, he closed his eyes quietly in front of his family. When Fabre was buried, a ladybird sat on his coffin to lament his death.
2 авг 2012
