Théodore Monod

Théodore André Monod (9 April 1902 – 22 November 2000) was a French naturalist, humanist, scholar and explorer.

Early life and education Monod was the son of Wilfred Monod, a pastor of l'Oratoire du Louvre, which Theodore also attended. as well as the École alsacienne, and obtained a doctorate in science from Sorbonne University in 1922.

He co-founded a Protestant Order of people who pray, named les Veilleurs (the Watchers) and wrote a prayer book for the order.

He founded the Institut fondamental d’Afrique noire in Senegal. He became a member of the Académie des sciences d'outre-mer in 1949, member of the Académie de marine in 1957 and member of the Académie des sciences in 1963. He was a charter member of the World Academy of Art and Science.

Scientific work The scientific bibliography of Théodore Monod includes more than 700 works on topics - from his thesis subject, the Gnathiidae (a family of parasitic Isopoda), to the subject that he held close to his heart until his death: the Scaridae, which he published on in 1994 in collaboration with Canadian research scientist Andrea Bullock.

Monod discovered and gave his name to 30 species of insects and plants, 50 crustaceans and several fish.

Monod was also politically active, taking part in pacifist and antinuclear protests until only some months before his death. He wrote several articles and books that adumbrated the emerging environmentalist movement. He described himself as a Christian anarchist.

In 1970, he led an International Committee for the Defence of Ernest Ouandié during his trial; the Cameroonian revolutionary was executed on the orders of the regime.

Monod was the great-grandson of Frédéric Monod. He shared a common ancestor with biologist Jacques Monod, the musician Jacques-Louis Monod, the politician Jérôme Monod and director Jean-Luc Godard.

Monod was a strict vegetarian who advocated for animal rights.

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