Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Dieudonné Dolomieu
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quizzes
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science
Cross section of Earth showing the core, mantle, and crust
Everything Earth
Related Questions
Discover
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
Lusitania sinking, illustration from The War of the Nations (New York), December 31, 1919. World War I, WWI. This image is one of three on the page. (See source file for the other two.)
7 of the World’s Deadliest Shipwrecks
Nativity Scene, Adoration of the Magi, Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, Montenegro
Why Is Christmas in December?
illustration of the walking titanosaurus, Patagotitan mayorum
Titanosaurs: 8 of the World's Biggest Dinosaurs
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) standing on rock, side view, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The Fastest Animals on Earth
Casino. Gambling. Slots. Slot machine. Luck. Rich. Neon. Hit the Jackpot neon sign lights up casino window.
Brain Games: 8 Philosophical Puzzles and Paradoxes
Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.
Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

Dieudonné Dolomieu

French geologist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Also known as: Déodat de Gratet de Dolomieu
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Also called:
Déodat De Gratet De Dolomieu
Born:
June 23, 1750, Dolomieu, near Tour-du-Pin, Fr.
Died:
Nov. 26, 1801, Château-Neuf, Saône-et-Loire (aged 51, died on this day)
Also Known As:
Déodat de Gratet de Dolomieu
Subjects Of Study:
dolomite
See all related content

Dieudonné Dolomieu (born June 23, 1750, Dolomieu, near Tour-du-Pin, Fr.—died Nov. 26, 1801, Château-Neuf, Saône-et-Loire) was a French geologist and mineralogist after whom the mineral dolomite was named.

A member of the order of Malta since infancy, he was sentenced to death in his 19th year for killing a brother knight in a duel but was pardoned. He continued to study natural sciences, which he had begun earlier, and after giving up his commission as a carabineer, visited Spain, Sicily, the Pyrenees, and the Calabria region of southern Italy. Following a study of the Alps (1789–90), he described dolomite (1791). A member of Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt (1798), he was captured on the way home and imprisoned at Messina. During his imprisonment he wrote his main treatise, Sur la philosophie minéralogique et sur l’espèce minérale (1801; “On Mineralogical Philosophy and on the Mineral Class”), on the margins of a Bible.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.