James Smithson

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James Smithson bigraphy, stories - British chemist

James Smithson : biography

1765 – 27 June 1829

James Smithson, FRS, M.A. (ca. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was a British chemist and mineralogist. He was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithson was the illegitimate child of the 1st Duke of Northumberland, and was born James Lewis Macie, in secret in Paris. Eventually he was naturalized in England and he attended college, studying chemistry and mineralogy. At age twenty-two he changed his name to James Smithson, his father’s surname. Smithson traveled extensively throughout Europe publishing papers about his findings. Considered an amateur in his field, Smithson maintained an inheritance he acquired from his mother and other relatives. He was never married and had no children, therefore, when he wrote his will he left his estate to his nephew, or his nephew’s family if his nephew died before Smithson. If his nephew was to die without a family, Smithson’s will stipulated that he would donate his estate to the founding of an educational institution in Washington, D.C., in the United States. His nephew died and could not claim to be the recipient of his estate; therefore, Smithson became the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He never visited the United States.

Legacy and the Smithsonian

It was not until 1835 that the United States government was informed about the bequest. Aaron Vail wrote to Secretary of State John Forsyth. This information was then passed onto President Andrew Jackson who then informed Congress. A committee was organized and the Smithsonian Institution was founded. Smithson’s estate was sent to the United States, accompanied by Richard Rush. The estate arrived as gold sovereigns in eleven boxes. Smithson’s personal items, scientific notes, minerals, and library also traveled with Rush. The gold was transferred to the treasury in Philadelphia and was reminted into $508,318.46. The final funds from Smithson were received in 1864 from Marie de la Batut, Smithson’s nephew’s mother. This final amount totaled $54,165.38.

On February 24, 1847, the Board of Regents, who oversaw the creation of the Smithsonian, approved the seal for the institution. The seal, based on an engraving by Pierre Joseph Tiolier, was manufactured by Edward Stabler and designed by Robert Dale Owen. Smithson’s papers and collection of minerals were destroyed in a fire in 1865, however, his collection of 213 books remain intact at the Smithsonian. The Board of Regents acquired a portrait of Smithson, which shows Smithson dressed in Oxford University student attire. The painting, by James Roberts, is now on display in the crypt at the Smithsonian Castle. An additional portrait, a miniature, and the original draft of Smithson’s will were acquired in 1877, which now reside in the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Institution Archives, respectively. Additional items were acquired from Smithson’s relatives in 1878.

Relocation of Smithson’s remains to Washington

Smithson was buried just outside of Genoa, Italy. The United States consul in Genoa was asked to maintain the grave site, with sponsorship for its maintenance coming from the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley visited the site, contributing further money to maintain it and requested a plaque be designed for the grave site. Three plaques were created by William Ordway Partridge. One was placed at the grave site, a second at a Protestant chapel in Genoa, and the last was gifted to Pembroke College, Oxford. Only one of the plaques exists today. The plaque at the grave site was stolen and then replaced with a marble version. During World War II, the Protestant chapel was destroyed and the plaque was looted. A copy was eventually placed at the site in 1963. The grave site itself was going to be relocated in 1905, and in response, Alexander Graham Bell, who was a regent for the Smithsonian, requested that Smithson’s remains be moved to the Smithsonian Institution Building. In 1903, Bell and his wife, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, traveled to Genoa to exhume the body. The body set sail from Genoa on January 7, 1904 and arrived on January 20. On January 25, a ceremony was held and the body was escorted through Washington, D.C. by the United States Cavalry. When handing over the remains to the Smithsonian, Bell stated: