Auguste Pomel


Nicolas Auguste Pomel was a French geologist, paleontologist and botanist. He worked as a mines engineer in Algeria and became a specialist in north African vertebrate fossils. He was Senator of Algeria for Oran from 1876 to 1882.

Life

Nicolas-Auguste Pomel was born in Issoire, Puy-de-Dôme, on 20 September 1821.
He studied at the Lycée de Clermont and earned his Licence ès sciences.
He was conscripted into the army when he was prepared to enter the École des mines.
He became a civil engineer after being released.
After the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 his Republican beliefs earned him deportation.
He became a Garde des mines in Oran in 1866, and was promoted to the 1st class in 1872.
From 1876 to 1882 he was member of the Senate.
In 1882 he was tasked with geological mapping of Algeria. He died in Dra-el-Mizan.
Pomel was also a prolific botanist, naming and describing many plant species and some genera as well. The genus Pomelia from the family Apiaceae is named in his honor.

Published works

He was the author of nearly 100 publications on North Africa; his works include Sur les Alcyonaires fossiles Miocenes de l'Algerie and Des races indigènes de l'Algérie et du rôle que leur reservent leurs aptitudes. Other written efforts by Pomel are: