A. J. A. Bonpland
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Name
Aimé J. A. Bonpland
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Dates
1773 - 1858
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Specialities
Algae, Pteridophytes, Spermatophytes
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Roles
Author, Collector
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Movement Details
France, Mexico, Venezuela
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Notes
Author Notes: Specimens at B, P
Collector Notes: C. America col. ± 1806: B, CGE, F, L, NY, P (orig.), P-JU; S. America (1799-1804): B, CGE, F, FI, G, LR, TMMEDEL, NY, P(orig.), P-JU, PC, W; France: P-JU, vide Humboldt, A. von; Orch., Crypt., Pter.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Born in La Rochelle, France, 22 August 1773; died in Santa Anna, Uruguay, 11 May 1858. He studied medicine in Paris, was surgeon on a war vessel, afterward studied under Corvisart, and became intimate with Alexander von Humboldt, whom he accompanied in the explorations described in "Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent." The collections made during his five years' travels in Mexico, Colombia, and the Orinoco and Amazon valleys were presented to the French government, which rewarded him with a pension, and appointed him superintendent of the gardens at Malmaison. He collected and classified about 6,000 plants, for the most part previously unknown, which he afterward described in "Plantes equinoxiales" (Paris, 1806-'10). He retired to Buenos Aires in 1816, taking with him a number of European plants. In Buenos Aires he was appointed professor of natural history, but soon resigned this office in order to explore the central parts of South America. In Paraguay he was arrested as a spy in 1821 by order of Dr. Francia, and was a prisoner for ten years, during which period he devoted his services as a physician gratuitously to the poor. On regaining his liberty he settled at San Borje, in Corrientes, where the government of the province presented him with an estate. In 1853 he removed to Santa Anna, where he gave his attention to the cultivation of the orange-tree, which he introduced, as well as to scientific research. His principal work was "Nova Genera et Species Plantarum" (Paris, 1815-'29).
source: Appletons Encyclopedia, http://www.famousamericans.net/aimebonpland/. -
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