French mining engineer, the son of politician Pierre Achille Marie Chaper (1795-1874). Maurice Chaper trained in geology and palaeontology at the School of the Mines in Paris, though left without obtaining his final diploma. He worked for the railroads and public works before carrying out a number of geological surveys in Central America, (where he was involved in the Panama Canal project), the Caribbean, western North America, Tropical South America, the Caucasus, South-East Asia, West Tropical Africa and Sri Lanka. In addition to mineralogical collections, he gathered zoological and some botanical specimens. Millettia chaperii Gagnep. was based on his collection from Borneo and named in his honour. Maurice Chaper was also a captain of the national guard (1870), promoted to lieutenant-colonel (1871), and an assistant to the mayor of the 5th arrondissement in Paris. He was elected president of the Zoological Society of France.