Félix MAZAURIC
1868-1919
Born in Valleraugue in the Gard, Félix Mazauric was a teacher who was first attracted by speology and archeology. He published countless scientific studies on issues ranging from natural history to underground hydrology, prehistoric and roman archeology, geography, and tourism.
In 1906, Mazauric became the Director of the Nîmes Archeology Museum. In 1910, he published "The Underground Rooms of the Amphitheater" in the memoirs of the Nimes Academy. He wrote a book on a poorly known period of the amphitheater’s history, starting in the High Middle Ages: Histoire du château des arènes de Nîmes (History of the Château in the Nîmes Arena). A fine observer, who was wise, enthusiastic, and had the soul of a scholar, an artist and a poet, he was a free and independent spirit.
His daughter, Lucie Mazauric, saved the results of his research from oblivion by publishing them in the Cahiers d’Histoire et d’Archéologie (Journal of History and Archeology). In her memoirs, she wrote that: "My father let us choose our Sunday walks by ourselves. He was busy with his History of the Nîmes Arena, and as long as we did not stop him from bringing along his manuscript and working alone on it somewhere, anywhere, he was happy. He had the particular capacity of working anywhere, wherever it may be, even in the middle of chattering women, which he put up with indulgently, without really hearing them."
image © City of Nîmes
