1913 Philippe Thomas Statue DS2006 ENGLISH

Inauguration of the Philippe Thomas Monument in Sfax Festivals of Inauguration (From Depeche Sfaxienne, April 28, 1913; reproduced in Diaspora Sfaxienne, 2006, p29) Continuation Of the Speeches Speech of Mr. Armand Gautier, Member of the Institute, Delegate of the Academy of Science, replaced by Mr. Charletty, Director General of Teaching in Tunisia The astonishing fruitfulness of the Tunisian and Algerian ground which in old Numidia had been worth the name of "Granary of Rome" has found, after 20 centuries, its explanation, in the discoveries of a modest French, veterinary scientist of the Army, paleontologist and informed geologist, Philippe Thomas, to whom we come today to pay homage. During his career, he had become famous for the flood of knowledge from his research on the cretaceous fauna of the North of Africa, and particularly on fossils of the horse and cattle families. But his paleontological work, already brilliant, was going to be erased by the glare of his discovery of phosphates in Tunisia and Algeria. December 7, 1885, he announced to the Academy of Science, (that I have the honor of representing at this festival), that in April and May of that year, he found important phosphate in the Eocene layers partly covering the sides of the long East-West chain which separates the Tunisian high plateaus from the area of Chotts, from Gafsa to the Algerian border. The following year, he let us know that these phosphates are followed without discontinuity, on the two sides of this chain for more than 80 kilometers. He found them again to the south-west of Gafsa, as far as the center of Tunisia and to Kalaat-Es-Senam in the West. Invaluable similar layers were then announced by his colleagues: Mr. G.Rolland, mining engineer, in the powerful solid mass which separates Kairouan from Medjerda. and Mr. G. Mesle, in the North of Medjerda. on the Eastern limit of the Kroumiric. Two years afterwards. Philippe Thomas again indicated some new layers of this invaluable product in Algeria. The most important is found in the solid mass of M’Falah to the south of Boghar. Philippe Thomas did not ignore the importance of his discoveries. In its memories it insists on "the economic and agricultural interest of the existence of these rich layers of an ore considered rightly as the manure par excellence of cereals." He observes that the current relative infertility of the Algerian and Tunisian ground that was so fertile formerly, holds in part, with its exhaustion out of phosphate and he envisages the return of its old fruitfulness as soon as one can use the industrial agricultural resources that he so liberally made know in the agricultural and industrial world. But like other good French scientists, Philippe Thomas was satisfied with his discoveries for themselves and from the services rendered by him to science, he knew only how to obtain good seed from it. He died poor in the coasts of those which he invaded. At this time one estimates that Tunisia provides to the world more than one million 500 thousand tons of phosphates per annum. This region thus became the richest phosphate country of the world. Thanks to Thomas, the production of cereals and in agricultural products of all natures notably increased on our land for the same surface and same manpower. It has assured the wellbeing of Tunisia for a long time: it has released France from the tribute that it paid to foreign countries to increase its production in grains, wines, milk and artificial grassland. Since for all of which we are indebted for him, he was not rewarded, that at least he is thanked and praised with dignity, this modest and satisfied citizen who enriched his country by forgetting himself. It is activities of these sentiments which the Academy of Science and the Chemical Company of France which also charged me with the honor of speaking on its behalf, wanted to proclaim here, by my voice, the size of the scientific and economic work of Philippe Thomas and the influence that it will exert for a long time on the public. .

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