Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories. Geoffroy's scientific views had a transcendental flavor and were similar to those of German morphologists like Lorenz Oken. He believed in the underlying unity of organismal design, and the possibility of the transmutation of species in time, amassing evidence for his claims through research in comparative anatomy, paleontology, and embryology. He is considered as a predecessor of the evo-devo evolutionary concept.

15 April 1772

Born on the same birth day (15 April): Abigail Mejia • Andreas Fransson • Ashleigh Gardner • Brian Pothier • Glenn Shadix • Josiane Balasko • Lee Kernaghan • Manzoor Elahi • Neville Marriner • Shaunae Miller-Uibo • Steven Defour • W. D. Ross

Born in the same month (April 1772): Charles Fourier • David Ricardo • Nachman of Breslov