François Twiesselmann, Lila Defrise et André Leguebe: acteurs de l’émergence et du développement de l’anthropobiologie à l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (IRSNB) entre 1936 et 1989

Abstract

The Royal Belgian Institute (or Museum) of Natural Sciences (RBINS), founded in 1846, can boast among its various departments an “Anthropology and Prehistory” section. From 1936 to 1975, François Twiesselmann, physician, anatomist, embryologist, geneticist and paleoanthropologist, invested his energy in revitalizing and developing the Museum’s department of Anthropology and Prehistory, which was richly endowed with the work of and collections from archaeological excavations led by Edouard Dupont, one of the Institute’s directors and to whom we owe the discovery of the Neanderthal jaw of La Naulette (1866). Within the constraints and means of his post as director, Twiesselmann always kept in mind a double objective. Indeed, although anthropology and prehistory are very different disciplines as far as techniques are concerned, he endeavoured to build as close a relationship as possible between them, mainly because of their shared common objectives. Furthermore, he favoured the idea that the study of ancient populations would only progress if it were based on a better knowledge of current population dynamics. With this purpose in mind, Twiesselmann was able to ensure the collaboration of mathematician E. Defrise-Gussenhoven, whose research would underpin the understanding of the biometric data gathered by Twiesselmann and his laboratory’s researchers. In 1959, biochemist André Leguebe joined the section. Following Twiesselmann’s retirement, he became head of the section from 1976 to 1989. Leguebe undertook a broad range of activities but his special interest in methodology lead him to develop and apply the most modern statistical techniques: “anthropology is the study of human variability over time and space”. Through their efforts, Twiesselmann, Defrise and Leguebe were remarkable forerunners in the application and development of that multidisciplinary science termed “anthropobiology”.