CARBONNELLE, IGNACE. - Jesuit, b. at Tournai on 1 Feb. 1829 and d. at Bruxelles on 4 March 1889. He cultivated the mathematical and physical sciences, to which he devoted most of his life, also in order to defend on this ground the truths of the Faith. To this end he did not neglect a profound theological preparation in the years preceding his priestly ordination (1857). He taught mathematics and mechanics at Namur, then rhetoric for two years at Tournai. In 1861 he went to India, as professor of science at the college of S. Fr. Saverio in Calcutta. Having returned to Belgium (1869), he taught astronomy and mathematics at Lovanio, while devoting himself to numerous scientific publications.
His name remains linked to the Scientific Society of Bruxelles, of which he was the principal founder. C.’s chief work appeared in its 2nd ed., in 2 vols., at Paris in 1881: Les confins de la science et de la philosophie.