Dolomites | The origin of the name

Article by Sara Zaccaron, Sass Ruis Feltre geological group

The Dolomites are the only mountains in the world whose name derives from the rock of which they are mainly composed: THE DOLOMIA .

Originally they were defined as the region of the “ Pale Mountains ”, in relation to the visual impact of the landscape. Only later and in particular after the end of the First World War did the new name take hold.

Dolomieu discovers a new rock

Retracing the various stages that lead us to the name Dolomiti, the starting point is certainly the studies of the French DÉODAT OF DOLOMITE natural science expert with a life that was nothing short of adventurous. Born in Dolomieu, France, on June 23, 1750, his family destined him for a military career: his father enrolled him in the Order of the Knights of Malta at the tender age of 3. He managed to reach the rank of lieutenant, but the unfortunate outcome of a duel, in which the contender died, earned him a life sentence. He was later released from prison thanks to the intervention of his friends and, above all, the intercession of Pope Clement XIII himself. As a self-taught man, he began to take an interest in natural sciences and at the age of 26 he began to travel across half of Europe: from the mines of Brittany to the basalt areas of Portugal and the volcanic territories of Southern Italy.

Déodat de Dolomieu at the age of forty in Rome, in a portrait by the Swiss painter Angelica Kauffmann.

His wanderings took him all the way to Tyrol where between the 1789 and 1790 he made it together with his student Fleurian of Bellevue several investigations. They trace a strange rock very similar to a limestone, but – unlike a limestone – characterized by a very weak chemical reaction to dilute hydrochloric acid . The new discovery was published in July 1791 in the “Journal de Physique“ and in October of the same year 12 samples of the mysterious rock were delivered to the Swiss chemist Nicolas de Saussure who demonstrated the actual difference: while the limestone rock was composed of calcite, a calcium carbonate [CaCO3] , the Dolomieu samples were composed of a new mineral, more precisely a mixture of calcium carbonate and magnesium [MgCa(CO ₃ ) ₂ ] .

Dolomieu's letter concerning a new type of limestone, published in 1791

The new rock has a name: Dolomite

Dolomieu himself proposed various names for the mineral, from “ Tyrolensis ” (the place where it was first found) to “ Saussurite ” (in honour of the father of Nicolas de Saussure, the first climber of Mont Blanc and an expert in mineralogy), but in the end the name prevailed. DOLOMITE . Previously the mineral had only been generally referred to as “spar” or “perspar”.

Two Englishmen introduce the Dolomites to the general public

However, it took a few more decades before the name given to the rock came to indicate the entire geographical area. The second important step in this direction was marked by the volume “ The Dolomite Mountains ” written in 1864 from naturalists J. GILBERT And GC CHURCHILL . With a flowery language the two Englishmen describe the majestic landscape with its impressive peaks and steep peaks. Gilbert, an expert painter, enriched the book with a series of drawings, while Churchill described its botanical and geological peculiarities. The book was very successful at a European level and indelibly influenced the imagination linked to the Dolomites and its territories.

There were fierce debates in the following years about whether or not to name an entire region after a mineral. But this is a final push against an increasingly widespread trend: even if late compared to other mountain groups, the geographical area finally has a name, THE DOLOMITES .

What happened to Dolomieu?

Do you want to know what happened to Dolomites after the discovery of dolomite? Well, not tired, he began to cultivate other interests, became an active supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte and entered politics. In 1798 he participated with Napoleon in the Egyptian campaign and took care of the negotiations on the capitulation that took place in Malta. During the return journey he was shipwrecked in the sea off Taranto, was taken prisoner and held for a long time in Sicilian prisons in inhumane conditions. He was released only in 1801 at the time of Napoleon's reconquest but he was a sick and very tried man. After a last journey towards the Alps, Dolomieu died in November of that same year at the age of 51.

The funerary stele of G.DE DOLOMIEU and family in his hometown Dolomieu