François-Alphonse Forel was born on February 2, 1841 in Morges. He obtained the title of bachelor in physical and natural sciences and bachelor in literature at the Academy of Geneva. He then obtained a license in natural sciences in Montpellier. He then studied medicine in Paris and finished his training with a doctorate in medicine at the German University of Wützburg in 1867. Then, back in Switzerland, he was first a lecturer at the Lausanne Academy and then an extraordinary professor of anatomy and general physiology but also of zoology and comparative anatomy. In 1895, he concentrated on research by working on the periodic variations of glaciers as well as in the study of lakes by creating a new science: limnology. He also participated in the financing of the expedition to the Greenland in 1912. He died that same year, on August 8, 1912 in Morges.
Source: Pilet, Paul-Emile: "Forel, François-Alphonse", in: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (DHS)Version of 01.05.2007. Online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/028825/2007-05-01/, accessed on 21.02.2022.