Geoffroy's Giraffe: The Hagiography of a Charismatic Mammal

Abstract

In 1826, the Pasha of Egypt offeredto the King Charles X an unusual present: aliving giraffe. While offering remarkableanimals was a common practice among monarchs,the choice of a giraffe was somewhatextraordinary since it was the firstrepresentative of its kind to set foot inFrance. The Royal Menagerie of the ParisMuséum national d'histoire naturelle wasasked to oversee the transportation of thisprecious mammal and Étienne GeoffroySaint-Hilaire, one of its professors, was sentto Marseilles to fetch it on foot all the wayback to the capital. The whereabouts of thisexotic procession stirred passions throughoutthe country, generating a fashion craze ``à la girafe.''

The so-called Pasha's giraffe, King's giraffeor French giraffe is also – and perhaps moreimportantly – Geoffroy's giraffe. The giraffeepisode is representative of Geoffroy's largerscientific career. Because of its Egyptianflavor, its adventurous aspect, its politicaland diplomatic undertones, as well as thepopular attention and educational opportunitiesit afforded, that mission was ideally suitedfor the flamboyant naturalist. So close werethe animal's and the French zoologist's fates,that they passed away a couple months apart andboth fell into relative oblivion. But evendead and dissected, Geoffroy's giraffe couldnot easily be dissociated from its companion. The afterlife of its ``saintly'' relics mirrorsthe popular and scholarly revival ofÉtienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, portrayedby some as a forgotten ``prophet.''