Avenue Rollinat

Pierre André Marie Raymond Rollinat, born on September 2, 1859 in Saint-Gaultier (Indre) and died on December 27, 1931 in Argenton-sur-Creuse, was a French naturalist and herpetologist. He spent most of his life in Argenton-sur-Creuse, his family's home town. He was fascinated by animals from an early age, thanks in particular to the influence of a great-uncle who was an amateur ornithologist. During his studies at the high school in Châteauroux, he spent his time in the shop of a taxidermist who taught him the techniques of this profession. He refused to go to Paris to study zoology and preferred to stay in Argenton-sur-Creuse where he spent his whole life. From then on, he devoted himself to the study of vertebrates from the centre of France, particularly amphibians and reptiles. He set up a laboratory in his house and laid out his garden to observe the fauna closely. He published numerous papers on hibernation, care of young, egg laying and embryology. He particularly studied Emys orbicularis and published about thirty papers on this species. He set up a nest near his bed to observe the nocturnal behaviour of this species. His posthumous work, La Vie des reptiles de la France centrale (The Life of Reptiles of Central France), was published in 1934 and reissued in 1937, 1946 and 1980. Rollinat was the most prominent figure of a small group of naturalists who studied the fauna of France, while their colleagues at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle devoted themselves to the fauna of the colonies. Among these naturalists were Fernand Lataste (1847-1934) and Louis François Heron-Royer (1835-1891). He kept up a regular correspondence with the great herpetologists of the time such as George Albert Boulenger (1858-1937), Willy Wolterstorff (1684-1943) or Count Mario Giacinto Peracca (1861-1923). His self-taught quality and the relevance of his observations earned him frequent comparisons with Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915). In June 1888, he was appointed member of the French Zoological Society. Raymond Rollinat played a very active role in the social and cultural life of his town throughout his life. He kept a daily diary of events, much of which was published, and took photographs every day. His house in Argenton-sur-Creuse became the town hall.