Even before he was old enough to go to school Jean Henri Fabre (1823-1915) was interested in insects. He thought them more fun than the cats and dogs and rabbits other children had as pets. As an old man he would still sit for hours watching an ant nest or a hive of bees. His neighbors thought that he was odd. But by his patient watching Fabre learned so much about insects that he became very famous.
Fabre was born in the French village of St. Leons. His family had very little money. When he was old enough, the boy peddled lemons to earn money to go to school. He was such a good student that he was given a scholarship so that he could go to college. He finished college and began teaching science when he was only 19. After nearly 30 years he gave up teaching so that he would have more time to study insects. He wrote many books about them. Our Humble Helpers and The Life of the Fly are two of his books.
No one paid much attention to Fabre's work until he was nearly 80. Then he was much honored. A few years before he died the French government gave him a pension as a reward for what he had done to aid science.
