Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine e Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (August 1, 1744 – December 18, 1829) was a French soldier, naturalist, academic and an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws. Lamarck was born as the eleventh child in an impoverished noble family of soldiers in Picardie. Lamarck was forced into enrollment in a Jesuit college in Amiens, but after his father's death in 1760, Lamarck joined a company of soldiers. He fought in the Pomeranian War with Prussia, and was awarded a commission for his bravery on the battlefield. At his post in Monaco, Lamarck became interested in natural history and resolved to study medicine. He retired from the army after being injured in 1766, and he returned to his medicine studies. Lamarck showed a particular interest for botany, and he studied the subject under Bernard de Jussieu for nearly ten years. He was one of the main contributors to the Cell Theory.