James Smithson

James Smithson
James Smithson by Henri-Joseph Johns, 1816
Born	Jacques-Louis Macie c. 1765 Paris, France
Died	27 June 1829(1829-06-27) (aged 64) Genoa, Italy
Nationality	British
Fields	Chemistry Mineralogy
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Oxford
Known for	Founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution

James Smithson, MA, FRS (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English chemist and mineralogist. He was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithson was the illegitimate child of the 1st Duke of Northumberland, and was born secretly in Paris, on an unknown date, possibly in the Pentemont Abbey, as Jacques-Louis Macie (later altered to James Louis). Eventually, he was naturalized in England and attended university, studying chemistry and mineralogy at Pembroke College, Oxford. At the age of twenty-two, he changed his surname from Macie to Smithson, his father's pre-marriage surname. Smithson traveled extensively throughout Europe publishing papers about his findings. Considered a talented amateur in his field, Smithson maintained an inheritance he acquired from his mother and other relatives.

Smithson was never married and had no children; therefore, when he wrote his will, he left his estate to his nephew, or his nephew's family if his nephew died before Smithson. If his nephew was to die without heirs, however, Smithson's will stipulated that his estate be used "to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In 1835, his nephew died and so could not claim to be the recipient of his estate; therefore, Smithson became the patron of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. despite having never visited the United States.

James Smithson was born in c. 1765 to Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland and Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie. His mother was the widow of James Macie, a wealthy man from Weston, Bath. An illegitimate child, Smithson was born in secret in Paris, resulting in his birth name being the Francophone Jacques-Louis Macie (later altered to James Louis Macie). After the death of his parents, he changed his last name to Smithson, the surname of his biological father prior to marriage. He was educated and eventually naturalized in England. In 1766, his mother inherited from the Hungerford family of Studley, where her brother had lived up until his death. His controversial step-father John Marshe Dickinson (aka Dickenson) of Dunstable died in 1771. Smithson enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782 and graduated in 1786, later taking his MA. The poet George Keate was a first cousin once removed, on his mother's side.