Louis Rendu (9 December 1789 in Meyrin – 20 August 1859) was French Roman Catholic bishop of Annecy and a scientist.

Most Reverend

Louis Rendu
Bishop
Bishop Louis Rendu of Annecy (1842-1859)
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Annecy
In office1842-1859
PredecessorPierre-Joseph Rey
SuccessorCharles-Marie Magnin
Orders
Ordination19 June 1814
Consecration29 April 1843
by Alexis Billiet
Personal details
Born9 December 1789
Meyrin, Geneva
Died21 August 1859
Annecy, Savoy

Life

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Louis Rendu was born at Meyrin, a small town a mile northwest of Geneva, on 9 December 1789.[1]

He received his priestly education at the Grand Séminaire de Chambéry.[2] He was ordained a priest on 19 June 1814, and appointed a teacher of belles lettres at the Collège royale de Chambéry.[3] From 1821 to 1829, he was a professor of Physics.

He was a founding member of the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Savoie in 1819, along with Alexis Billiet, future archbishop of Chambéry, and the society's permanent secretary.[4]

His first book, Traité de Physique, was published at Chambéry in 1825.[5] In 1828, he published Théorie électrique de cristallisation, which was awarded a prize by the Institut de France.[6] In 1829, the Collège de Chambéry was handed over to the Jesuits, and Rendu was named a canon of the cathedral Chapter of Chambéry.[7]

He was nominated bishop of Annecy by King Charles Albert of Sardinia on 25 August 1842, and approved by Pope Gregory XVI on 27 January 1843.[8] He was consecrated a bishop in the cathedral of Annecy on 29 April 1843, by Archbishop Alexis Billiet of Chambéry.[9] As bishop, he chose to send his best priestly students to the University of Turin, to take degrees in Canon Law,[10] under Giovanni Nepomuceno Nuytz, until Nuytz's views were condemned by Pope Pius IX in his apostolic brief of 22 August 1851.[11]

In a diocese which contained around 300 parishes, he built and consecrated 102 new churches.[12]

Bishop Rendu was a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite civil de Savoie, and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des SS. Maurice et Lazare.

Bishop Rendu died on 20 August 1859.[13] His almoner, François Marie Guillermin, who was present at the death-bed, says it was 21 August.[14]

Works

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Rendu was the author of Theorie des glaciers de la Savoie,[15] an important book on the mechanisms of glacial motion. The Rendu Glacier, Alaska, U.S. and Mount Rendu, Antarctica are named for him.

His ethnological and religious-themed works include:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mermillod, p. 4.
  2. ^ Baud & Binz, p. 209.
  3. ^ Mermillod, p. 5.
  4. ^ Louis Pillet, Histoire de l'Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Savoie de 1820 à 1860, (in French), (Chambéry: Impr. savoisienne, 1891), pp. 31-35.
  5. ^ Mermillod, p. 6.
  6. ^ Baud & Binz, p. 209.
  7. ^ Mermillod, p. 7.
  8. ^ Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 77.
  9. ^ Mermillod, p. 11.
  10. ^ Baud & Binz, p. 220.
  11. ^ Giacomo Margotti, Processo di Nepomuceno Nuytz: Professore di Diritto Canonico nell'Universita di Torino, (in Italian) (Turin: P. De Agostini, 1852), p. 19.
  12. ^ Mermillod, p. 14.
  13. ^ Pillet, p. 35.
  14. ^ Guillermin, p. 167.
  15. ^ Louis Rendu, Théorie des glaciers de la Savoie, (in French), (Chambéry: Puthod, 1840).
  16. ^ Lectura- Catalogues- Résultats de la recherche. Review by C. Millé: Bibliographie catholique, (in French), Volume 15 (Paris: Bureau de la Bibliographie catholique, 1855), pp. 160-162.

Sources

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  • Baud, Henri; Binz, Louis (1985). Le Diocèse de Genève-Annecy. (in French). Annecy: Editions Beauchesne, 1985. Pp. 209-211.
  • Guillermin, F.-M. (1867). Vie de Mgr Louis Rendu, évêque d'Annecy. (in French). Paris: C. Douniol, 1867. {reprint: Hachette 2016] [eulogistic, pietistic]
  • Mermillod, Gaspard (1859). Mgr. Louis Rendu, évêque d'Annecy: esquisse biographique, (in French), Carouge: A. Jaquemot 1859.
  • Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1968). Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi ... A pontificatu Pii PP. VII (1800) usque ad pontificatum Gregorii PP. XVI (1846) (in Latin). Vol. VII. Monasterii: Libr. Regensburgiana.
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