| Nicolas Auguste Pomel | |
| Office: | Senator of Algeria (Oran) |
| Term Start: | 30 January 1876 |
| Term End: | 7 January 1882 |
| Successor: | Rémy Jacques |
| Birth Date: | 20 September 1821 |
| Birth Place: | Issoire, Puy-de-Dôme, France |
| Death Place: | Draâ El Mizan, Algeria |
| Nationality: | French |
| Occupation: | Mining engineer, Geologist, paleontologist, botanist, politician |
Nicolas Auguste Pomel (20 September 1821 – 2 August 1898) was a French geologist, paleontologist and botanist. He worked as a mines engineer in Algeria and became a specialist in north African vertebrate fossils. He was Senator of Algeria for Oran from 1876 to 1882.
Nicolas-Auguste Pomel was born in Issoire, Puy-de-Dôme, on 20 September 1821.He studied at the Lycée de Clermont and earned his licence ès sciences.He was conscripted into the army when he was prepared to enter the École des mines.He became a civil engineer after being released.After the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 his Republican beliefs earned him deportation.He became a Garde des mines in Oran in 1866, and was promoted to the 1st class in 1872.From 1876 to 1882 he was member of the Senate (Oran division).In 1882 he was tasked with geological mapping of Algeria.[1] He died in Dra-el-Mizan.[2]
Pomel was also a prolific botanist, naming and describing many plant species and some genera as well.[3] The genus Pomelia (Durando ex Pomel) from the family Apiaceae is named in his honor.[1]
He was the author of nearly 100 publications on North Africa;[4] his works include Sur les Alcyonaires fossiles Miocenes de l'Algerie (1868) [5] and Des races indigènes de l'Algérie et du rôle que leur reservent leurs aptitudes (1871). Other written efforts by Pomel are: