| James Smithson  AKA James Lewis Macie
Born: 1765
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: 27-Jun-1829
Location of death: Genoa, Italy
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Smithsonian Building, Washington, DC
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Chemist, Philanthropist Nationality: England
Executive summary: Chemist, funded the Smithsonian Institution British chemist and mineralogist and founder of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, a natural son of Hugh Smithson, 1st duke of Northumberland, by Elizabeth Keate Macie, a granddaughter of Sir George Hungerford of Studley, was born in France in 1765. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1786, and was known in early life as James Lewis (or Louis) Macie. He took the name of James Smithson about the year 1800. His attention was given to chemistry and mineralogy, and he published analyses of calamines and other papers in the Annals of Philosophy and the Philosophical Transactions. The mineral name "smithsonite" was originally given in his honor by Beudant to zinc carbonate, but having also been applied to the silicate, the name is now rarely used. In 1784 he accompanied Faujas St. Fond in his journey to the Western Isles, and in the English translation of the Travels in England, Scotland and the Hebrides (1799) Smithson is spoken of as "M. de Mecies of London." He was elected F.R.S. in 1787. He died at Genoa on the 27th of June 1829. By his will he bequeathed upwards of �100,000 to the United States of America to found the Smithsonian Institution. The institution was founded by act of Congress on the 10th of August 1846.
Father: Hugh Smithson Percy
Mother: Elizabeth Keate Macie (d. 1800)
University: MA, Pembroke College, Oxford University (1786)
Smithsonian Institution Founder
Royal Society 1787
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