ARNOLD - LUCIEN MONTANDON (1852 – 1922 - Travaux

482 GABRIELA ANDREI, CORNELIU PANDELE
Moldova and Dobrogea, before 1918) and then, referring only to Montandon, he
said «lucrarea sa capitalã, apãrutã în 1906 (…) un fel de inventar, catalog-listã al
tuturor gasteropodelor colectate de el, amintind ºi localitãþile de unde au fost
adunate» (his chief paper, published in 1906 (…) a kind of inventory, listed
catalogue of all gastropods collected by him, also mentioning the collecting
localities) (Andrei, 2005).
In Istoria biologiei în date (The History of Biology with data), published in
1996, in the chapter dedicated to Entomology, Matilda Lãcãtuºu underlines A. L.
Montandon’s contribution, considering him «unul dintre precursorii entomologiei
româneºti» (one of the forerunners of the Romanian entomology), together with
Aristide Caradja, Constantin Hormuzaki and Eduard Fleck, his contemporaries.
Besides he was of French origin and had come in Romania since his juvenile years,
we found out that he published his papers on heteropterans in “Buletinul Societãþii
de ªtiinþe” (Bulletin of the Science Society) from Bucharest, and his scientifical
activity lasted 40 years «aducând o mare contribuþie la cunoaºterea faunei din
România» (having a large contribution to the knowledge of the Romanian fauna). It
is also mentioned that he received «ca specialist renumit» (as a well-known
specialist) material for study from further continents and «ca rezultat al activitãþii
sale a lãsat o valoroasã colecþie de Heteroptere, aflatã astãzi la Muzeul “Grigore
Antipa” » (as a result of his activity he made a valuable heteropteran collection,
today preserved in “Grigore Antipa” Museum).
In 2005, on the ocassion of 100 years celebration since Montandon was
appointed Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, a large article
dedicated to the naturalist’s biological view was published in Galaþi (Pandele, 2005).
Even if at least ten books and notes were published during the last decades,
entirely dedicated to the great naturalist, few people know the importance of his
contribution today, not only by the 400 new described taxa, by over 200 papers 1
published in the most known periodical journals, the richness of his entomological
and malacological collections, but also by his entire activity, always for the benefit
of Science, Nature and his Adoptive Country. He was the member of some of the
most famous scientifical societies and collaborated with the great museums of the
world, as Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle de Paris, Museo Civico di Storia
Naturale di Genova, Musée National Hongrois, Muséum entomologique de Berlin,
Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R. Università di Torino, U. S.
National Museum of Natural History etc. (Fig. 1).
As Igor Sienkiewicz wrote, although Montandon did not participated to any
expedition «his prodigious activity he built mostly on the material he received from
dozens of people from all continents, with whom Montandon kept a vast
correspondence. Some were distinguished scientists who co-operated with him;
others, collectors or explorers who set foot in some of the wildest countries of the
world, sent whole entomological treasures to the Bucharest worker, who based on
them described the many exotic species that bear Montandon’s name. (…) His
works gained A. L. Montandon a world wide reputation in the field of both aquatic
and terrestrial Heteroptera, Palaearctic as well as Neotropical (Indo-Malayan and
Australian). His discoveries refer to such different families as Naucoridae,
Belostomatidae, Nepidae, Ranatridae, Berytidae, Lygaeidae, Tingidae, Coreidae,
Pentatomidae, Cydnidae, Plataspidae, etc., etc. » (Sienkiewicz, op. cit.).
Montandon’s name is bounded by the first studies on the fauna of Moldova,
Muntenia and Dobrogea. We found the comment in “Istoricul cercetãrilor”