Professor Dr Jean Dorst was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 ornithologist.

Dorst was born at Mulhouse

Mulhouse

Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...

 and studied biology and paleontology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris

University of Paris

The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...

. In 1947 he joined the staff of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...

. He succeeded Jacques Berlioz

Jacques Berlioz

Jacques Berlioz was a French zoologist.Berlioz joined the staff of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in 1912, and in 1949 he became curator of mammals and birds. He retired in 1962....

 as chairman of Mammifères et Oiseaux in 1964, and was elected as director of the museum in 1975, resigning in 1985 to protest against government reforms of the museum.

Dorst was a member of the Académie des Sciences, one of the founders and second president of the Charles Darwin Foundation

Charles Darwin Foundation

The Charles Darwin Foundation was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of the Galapagos Islands ecosystems. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is used to...

 for the Galapagos, president of the 16th International Ornithological Congress

International Ornithological Congress

The International Ornithological Congress series forms the oldest and largest international series of meetings of ornithologists. It is organised by the International Ornithological Committee, a group of about 200 ornithologists...

 (IOC), and vice president of the Commission of Protection of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Dorst was one of the writers of the documentary Le Peuple Migrateur

Le Peuple Migrateur

Winged Migration , is a 2001 documentary film directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin, who was also one of the writers and narrators, showcasing the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations....

(Winged Migration), and the film is dedicated to him.