James Smithson British scientist James Smithson provided the funding necessary to create the Smithsonian Institution. Born in France and educated at Oxford University in England, Smithson was a wealthy chemist and mineralogist. He never married or had any children. <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/510">In his will</a>, he wrote that if his nephew, who was his only heir, died without heirs, then his entire estate should go to the United States to develop in Washington "under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's nephew died in 1835, and the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/52">Smithsonian Institution</a> was <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/162">founded in 1846</a>. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=James+Smithson">James Smithson</a> Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8245?back=%2Fsearch%2Fsia_search_collections%2FHeliotype%2520Printing%2520Co">View original image</a>. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Pre-1800s">Pre-1800s</a> <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1800-1829">1800-1829</a>