Editing René Lesson (section)

== Biography ==
Lesson was born at [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]], and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He served in the [[French Navy]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]; in 1811, he was third surgeon on the frigate ''Saale'', and in 1813, was second surgeon on the ''Regulus''.<ref name=RPL>[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pharm_0035-2349_1954_num_42_142_9213_t1_0341_0000_3 Persée] Un pharmacien de la marine et voyageur naturaliste : R.-P Lesson</ref>

In 1816, Lesson changed his classification to [[pharmacist]]. He served on [[Louis Isidore Duperrey|Duperrey]]'s round-the-world voyage of [[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|''La Coquille'']] (1822–1825), of which he collected [[natural history]] specimens with his fellow surgeon [[Prosper Garnot]] and officer [[Jules Dumont d'Urville|Dumont d'Urville]].<ref name= RPL/> During his visits to the [[Moluccas]] and [[New Guinea]], Lesson became the first naturalist to see [[birds of paradise]] in the wild.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sn6-x8lo3a8C&pg=PA113 New Guinea: crossing boundaries and history] by Clive Moore</ref>

On returning to [[Paris]], he spent seven years preparing the section on vertebrates for the official account of the expedition: "''Voyage autour du monde entrepris par ordre du Gouvernement sur la corvette La Coquille''" (published from 1826 to 1839).<ref>Statement based on a translation of an equivalent article at the [[French Wikipedia]].</ref> During this time period, he also produced "''Manuel d'Ornithologie''" (1828), "''Traité d'Ornithologie''" (1831), "''Centurie Zoologique''" (1830–1832) and "''Illustrations de Zoologie''" (1832–35).<ref>[http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3ALesson%2C+R.+P.&fq=&dblist=638&start=11&qt=next_page WorldCat Search] (publications)</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2024}} Lesson also published several [[monograph]]s on [[hummingbird]]s and one book on birds of paradise:
* ''Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches. ouvrage orné de planches''... (1829–1831).
* ''Histoire naturelle des Colibris suivie d'un supplement a l'histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches'' (1831–32).
* ''Les trochilidées ou les colibris et les oiseaux-mouches'' (1832).
* ''Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des épimaques; ouvrage orné de planches, dessinées et gravées par les meilleurs artistes'' (1835).

In the field of [[herpetology]] he described many new species of amphibians<ref>Amphibian Species of the World. http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/.</ref> and reptiles.<ref>The Reptile Database. http://www.reptile-database.org.</ref>

On 3 February 1827, he married the artist and scientific illustrator [[Marie Clémence Lesson|Clémence Dumont de Sainte-Croix]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/barbierd?lang=fr&iz=43465&p=rene+primevere&n=lesson|title=Généalogie de René Primevère LESSON|website=Geneanet|language=fr|access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref> Dumont de Sainte-Croix along with her sister [[Zoë Dumont de Sainte-Croix]] illustrated plates in Lesson's publications.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/hi/gnt/dsi2/index.php?table_name=dsi&function=details&where_field=id&where_value=3831|title=Lesson, Marie Clémence|date=2016|website=uni-stuttgart.de|publisher=[[Stuttgart Database of Scientific Illustrators 1450–1950|Database of Scientific Illustrators, University of Stuttgart]] |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/hi/gnt/dsi2/index.php?table_name=dsi&function=details&where_field=id&where_value=3830|title=Dumont, Zoë|date=2016|website=uni-stuttgart.de|publisher=Database of Scientific Illustrators, University of Stuttgart|access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref>

From 1831, he served as a professor of pharmacy, and following a series of promotions, became the top-ranking naval pharmacist at Rochefort (1835).<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902581.html Encyclopedia.com] Lesson, René-Primevère</ref> His experience as a [[ship's surgeon]] resulted in his two-volume "''Manuel d'histoire naturelle medicale, et de pharmacographie''" (1833), intended as a handbook for naval surgeons.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

He became a corresponding member of the ''[[Académie de Médecine]]'' in 1828, later becoming a correspondent of the ''[[Académie des Sciences]]'' (1833).<ref name=CF>[http://correspondancefamiliale.ehess.fr/document.php?id=2208 Lesson, René Primevère (1794-1849)] Correspondance familiale</ref> He received the ''[[Légion d'honneur]]'' in 1847.

In 1847, Lesson presented a division of human races based on simple color terms: White for Caucasians, Dusky for South Asians, Orange for Austronesians, Yellow for East Asians, Red for Indigenous Americans, and Black for Africans. This model achieved moderate use among ethnologists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Charles Hamilton |last2=Kneeland |first2=Samuel |date=1851 |title=The Natural History of the Human Species |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUgLAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Gould and Lincoln}}</ref>

René Primevère Lesson is sometimes confused with his brother, [[Pierre Adolphe Lesson]] (1805–1888), who participated on the ''[[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|Astrolabe]]'' expedition (as the ''Coquille'' had been renamed) in 1826–29, under the command of [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]].<ref name=CF/>