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James Smithson, MA, FRS (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English chemist and mineralogist. He was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithson was the illegitimate child of the 1st Duke of Northumberland, and was born secretly in Paris, on an unknown date, possibly in the Pentemont Abbey, as Jacques-Louis Macie (later altered to James Louis). Eventually, he was naturalized in England and attended university, studying chemistry and mineralogy. At the age of twenty-two, he changed his surname from Macie to Smithson, his father's pre-marriage surname. Smithson traveled extensively throughout Europe publishing papers about his findings. Considered a talented amateur in his field, Smithson maintained an inheritance he acquired from his mother and other relatives. Smithson was never married and had no children; therefore, when he wrote his will, he left his estate to his nephew, or his nephew's family if his nephew died before Smithson. If his nephew was to die without heirs, however, Smithson's will stipulated that his estate be donated to the founding of an educational institution in Washington, D.C., in the United States. In 1835, his nephew died and so could not claim to be the recipient of his estate; therefore, Smithson became the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. despite having never visited the United States. ==Early life== James Smithson was born in c. 1765 to Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland and Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie.〔 His mother was the widow of James Macie, a wealthy man from Weston, Bath. An illegitimate child, Smithson was born in secret in Paris, resulting in his birth name being the Francophone Jacques-Louis Macie (later altered to James Louis Macie). After the death of his parents, he changed his last name to Smithson, the surname of his biological father prior to marriage.〔 He was educated and eventually naturalized in England.〔 In 1766, his mother inherited from the Hungerford family of Studley, where her brother had lived up until his death. His controversial step-father John Marshe Dickinson (aka Dickenson) of Dunstable died in 1771.〔His mother married him in the autumn of 1768, see Dickenson v. Macie (London, 1771), ''The Law Library'', volume XXII, Philadelphia, 1838.〕 Smithson enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782 and graduated in 1786, later taking his MA. The poet George Keate was a first cousin once removed, on his mother's side. Smithson was nomadic in his lifestyle, traveling throughout Europe.〔 As a student, in 1784, he participated in a geological expedition with Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond, William Thornton and Paolo Andreani of Scotland and the Hebrides. He was in Paris during the French Revolution.〔 In August 1807 Smithson became a prisoner of war while in Tönning during the Napoleonic Wars. He arranged a transfer to Hamburg, where he was again imprisoned, now by the French. The following year, Smithson wrote to Sir Joseph Banks and asked him to use his influence to help free Smithson. Banks succeeded and Smithson returned to England. He never married or had children. Smithson's wealth stemmed from the splitting of his mother's estate with his half-brother, Col. Henry Louis Dickenson.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Smithson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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