DENIKER

deniker, joseph (1852- ) french naturalist and anthropologist, was born of french parents at astrakhan, russia, on the 6th of march 1852. after receiving his education at the university and technical institute of st petersburg, he adopted engineering as a profession, and in this capacity travelled extensively in the petroleum districts of the caucasus, in central europe, italy and dalmatia. settling at paris in 1876, he studied at the sorbonne, where he took his degree in natural science. in 1888 he was appointed chief librarian of the natural history museum, paris. among his many valuable ethnological works mention may be made of _recherches anatomiques et embryologiques sur les singes anthropoides_ (1886); _etude sur les kalmouks_ (1883); _les ghiliaks_ (1883); and _races et peuples de la terre_ (1900). he became one of the chief editors of the _dictionnaire de geographie universelle_, and published many papers in the anthropological and zoological journals of france.