Jonas de Gélieu
Jonas de Gélieu (21 August 1740 – 17 October 1827) was a Swiss pastor and beekeeper, notable for his contact with Jean Jacques Rousseau and Isabelle de Charrière.
Biography
[edit]Gélieu was born on 21 August 1740 in Les Bayards, in the Principality of Neuchâtel (now the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel), the son of Elisabeth Willy and Jacques de Gélieu, a pastor and beekeper.[1] His paternal family, ennobled by Prince Frederick William in 1736, was of French Huguenot origin from Issigeac.[2] Gélieu was ordained in 1760 and was first appointed substitute pastor at Corcelles.[1] Between 1763 and 1790, he served as deacon at Môtiers and La Chaux-de-Fonds and as pastor of Lignières.[1] Gélieu became the pastor of Colombier in 1790, a post he held until his death.[1]
An avid beekeeper, Gélieu shared many of his personal experiences with the Economic Society of Bern, of which he was a member.[1] In 1816, he published Le conservateur des abeilles, a short treatise on beekeeping preceded by an autobiographical section, a work that earned him the nickname of "Father of Bees" (Père des abeilles).[1] Gélieu also published articles on comets, the ascent of sap, and several reactionary political pamphlets from 1792 to 1794, and was member of the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences.[1] Gélieu died on 17 October 1827 in Colombier, aged 87.[1]
References
[edit]Archive Sources
[edit]- PAST, Fonds: Archives de la société des pasteurs et ministres neuchâtelois (13e-20e). Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel.
- 1740 births
- 1827 deaths
- People from Val-de-Travers
- People from the Principality of Neuchâtel
- Swiss people of French descent
- Swiss Calvinist and Reformed ministers
- Swiss beekeepers
- 18th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers
- 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers
- 18th-century Swiss scientists
- 19th-century Swiss scientists