Swiss aristocrat and physicist Horace-Bénedict de Saussure (1770-1799) made several journeys through the Swiss Alps, directing his attention to its botany, mineralogy, geology and topography of the snowy mountains. This naming also honors the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913).
Discovered on 20-7-1993 in La Silla by Elst, E. W.