Human geography has been energized and replenished in a more decentered manner by multiple authors asking very different questions within the same subdisciplinary space. Some, like Alexander Von Humboldt, are seen as forbearers, but others, such as Friedrich Ratzel and Ellsworth Huntingdon are remembered more for how subsequent geographers disowned their ideas. Somewhat an exception to this is Paul Vidal de la Blache, who took up the chair of geography at the Sorbonne in 1898 and whose students became professors of geography at most of France's (then) 16 other universities. In this instance one could argue that a single leading figure established the terrain and direction of a national geographical tradition - at least for several subsequent generations.