Pierre Eugene du Simitiere [SEP] date of birth
Pierre Eugene du Simitiere
Pierre Eugene du Simitiere (born Pierre-Eugène Ducimetière, ; 18 September 1737, Geneva – October 1784, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a Swiss American member of the American Philosophical Society, naturalist, American patriot, and portrait painter.
Biography.
Born in Geneva, du Simitiere's original name was Pierre-Eugène Ducimetière or Pierre-Eugène du Cimetière. After leaving Switzerland, he spent more than a decade in the West Indies before moving to New York and then Philadelphia. He spelled
his name Pierre-Eugène du Simitière, Pierre Eugene du Simitiere or du Symitiere after settling in Philadelphia. Elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768, he further became one of its curators (1777–81).
Du Simitiere served as the artistic consultant for the committees that designed the Great Seal of the United States, and in 1776 he submitted the first proposed design to include the Eye of Providence, which element was eventually adopted. Moreover, he suggested the adoption of the U.S. motto "E pluribus unum" ("