Died 1836, Liege, Belgium | ||
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Name Philippe-Charles Schmerling | ||
Philippe-Charles or Philip Carel Schmerling (2 March 1791 Delft – 7 November 1836, Liège) was a Dutch/Belgian prehistorian, pioneer in paleontology, and geologist. He is often considered the founder of paleontology.
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In 1829 he discovered the first Neanderthal fossil in a cave in Engis, the partial cranium of a small child, although it was not recognized as such until 1936, and is now thought to be between 30,000-70,000 years old. It was the second discovery of a fossil of the genus Homo after the discovery of the Red Lady of Paviland in Wales in 1823.
Life
Philipus Carel, later Philippe-Charles, Schmerling was the son of Dutch parents, Jan Carel, a trader from 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, and Lucia van Koijck from Dordrecht. Schmerling studied medicine in Delft and Leiden. Afterwards he served as physician in the Dutch army between 1812 and 1816. On 17 October 1821 in Venlo he married Elizabeth Douglas. They had two daughters, in 1823 and 1825.
In 1822, Schmerling and his wive moved to Liège at which university he continued his studies and became Doctor of Medicine in 1825. His doctoral dissertation was on the subject De studii psychologiae in medicina utilitate et necessitate.
In 1829 he excavated a fossil man in a cave at Les Awirs, in the region of Flémalle, in the Meuse valley, between Liège and Huy. Schmerling investigated about sixty calcareous caves of the provinces of Liège and Luxembourg during the following years.
He became correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in September 1836.