François Victor Massena, 3rd Duke of Rivoli

François Victor Masséna, 3rd Prince of Essling and 3rd Duke of Rivoli (born 2 April 1799 in Antibes, died 16 April 1863) was an amateur ornithologist. He was the youngest of four children of André Masséna, 2nd Prince of Essling and Anne Marie Rosalie Lamare.

His siblings were Victoire Thècle Masséna, Marie Anne Elisabeth Masséna and Jacques Prosper Masséna.

Masséna accumulated a large bird collection of 12,500 specimens, which he sold to Dr. Thomas Bellerby Wilson in 1846. Wilson gave the collection to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Massena described a number of new parrots with his nephew Charles de Souancé, including the green-cheeked parakeet. The slaty-tailed trogon, crimson-mantled woodpecker and Rivoli's hummingbird were all named in his honor.[1]

In 1823 he married Anna Massena, Duchess of Rivoli and they had four children. Anna's hummingbird was named in her honor by fellow ornithologist René Primevère Lesson.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ "Rivoli's Hummingbird Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". All about Birds. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. ^ Williamson, Sheri (2001). A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 199. ISBN 0-618-02496-4.
French nobility
Preceded by
Jacques Prosper Masséna
Duke of Rivoli
1821–1863
Succeeded by
André Prosper Masséna