Profile of the Day: James Smithson

James Smithson

On this day in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution was created. Founding donor James Smithson, an English chemist and mineralogist, had bequeath his estate to the United States government to create an “establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

Smithson was born Jacques-Louis Macie in Paris, France circa 1765. The illegitimate child of Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Norhthumberland and Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie, Smithson later changed his surname after the death of his parents to his biological father’s surname prior to marriage.

On June 27, 1829, Smithson died in Genoa, Italy. In his will, he left his fortune to his nephew and stated that if his nephew were to pass without any heirs, the fortune would be donated to the United States for the creation of an educational institution bearing the Smithsonian name. When his nephew died six years later without any children, the U.S. Congress accepted Smithson’s gift. On August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed legislation to establish the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1904, Smithson’s remains were relocated to the Smithsonian, where they are interred to this day.

Have you visited the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.?

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Image: Wikimedia Commons