Théobald, N.

Nicolas Théobald, born in Montenach (Moselle) on August 31, 1903 and died in Obernai (Bas-Rhin) on May 10, 1981, was a Lorrain and French geologist, paleontologist and professor of geology at university of Besançon. He is best known for the new orientation of his state thesis on Fossil Insects from the Oligocene Lands of France (1937). He discovered several genera and more than 300 species of insects; however, these fossils being often very close to current species, it was not their stratigraphic value that was put forward, but their biogeographical significance, making it possible to determine the climatic and environmental characteristics of their living environments and to describe the landscapes of Oligocene “France”. He was also a specialist in the geological history of the entire Middle Rhine and Moselle basin. He insisted on the evidence of quaternary tectonic movements mainly in the Rhine trench. With an agrégation in Natural Sciences, he very early had the vocation of teaching and, as a professor of geology at the University of Saarbrücken, then at the University of Besançon, trained many researchers, while drawing attention to the need to protect drinking water resources and fragile natural environments.