| Authorised form of name | Smithson; James (1765 - 1829) |
| Other forms of name | James Louis |
| James Lewis |
| Louis |
| Other forms of surname | Macie |
| Dates | 1765 - 1829 |
| Place of birth | France |
| Date of birth | 1765 |
| Place of death | Genoa, Italy |
| Date of death | 27 June 1829 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
English cemetery of San Benigno, Genoa |
| Research field | Chemistry |
| Mineralogy |
| Activity | Education:
MA (1786) Pembroke College, Oxford
Career:
Named James Lewis Macie as a child, he changed his name from Macie to Smithson, and while in France changed it again to 'de Smithson', to be seen as a Milord anglais. Bequest to USA valued at $500,000 and until John Quincy Adams took a hand, the US was thinking of turning the money down. Established the Smithsonian Institution with £104,960 (Act of Congress 1846)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 19/04/1787 |
| Relationships | Illegitimate son of Hugh Smithson (FRS 1736), later 1st Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Hungerford Keate, possibly the daughter of Henry Keate who was uncle of George Keate (FRS 1766); assumed name of Smithson (c1802) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1830-1831 No 1 pp 8-9
Notes:
Ewing, Heather 'The Lost World of James Smithson' Bloomsbury (2007) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/30318758 |
| Code | NA3058 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1787/03 | Smithson, James: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| M/215 | Smithson, James | 1965 |
| L&P/12/38 | Paper, 'A chemical analysis of some calamines' by James Smithson | 1802 |
| L&P/12/128 | Letter, 'Account of a discovery of native minium' from James Smithson to Joseph Banks | 3 March 1806 |
| PT/2/3/2 | Plate, drawings of crystal structures by James Smithson | [1808] |
| PT/5/10 | Paper, 'On the composition of zeolite' by James Smithson | [1811] |
| PT/7/6 | Paper, 'On a substance from the elm tree, called ulmin' by James Smithson | [1812] |
| PT/12/6 | Paper, 'A few facts relative to the colouring matters of some vegetables' by James Smithson | [1817] |
| PT/7/30 | Paper, 'On a saline substance from Mount Vesuvius' by James Smithson | 3 July 1813 |
| PT/2/3 | Paper, 'On the composition of the compound sulphuret from Huel Boys, and an account of its crystals' by James Smithson | [1808] |
| PT/2/3/1 | Manuscript, 'On the composition of the compound sulphuret from Huel Boys, and an account of its crystals' by James Smithson | [1808] |
| MC/12/37 | Letter from Spencer F [Fullerton] Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, to Dr Alex W [Alexander William] Williamson, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, London | 15 April 1880 |
| MC/12 | Volume 12 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1880-1883 |
| AP/13/28 | Unpublished paper, address as President of the Royal Society by Davies Gilbert | 30 November 1829 |