Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre

Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre (October 23, 1833 - October 30, 1905), also known as J. B. Louis Pierre, was a French botanist known for his Asian studies.

Pierre was born in Saint-André, Réunion, and studied in Paris before working in the botanical gardens of Calcutta, India. In 1864 he founded the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, which he directed until 1877, after which he returned to Paris where he lived at 63 rue Monge, close to the Paris Herbarium. In 1883 he moved to Charenton, then to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, then (circa 1893) to Saint-Mandé, and finally to 18 rue Cuvier in Paris, where he lived until his death.

Pierre made many scientific explorations in tropical Asia. His publications include the "Flore forestière de la Cochinchine" (1880-1907), an article "Sur les plantes à caoutchouc de l'Indochine" ("Revue des cultures coloniales", 1903) and the section on Sapotaceae in the "Notes botaniques" (1890-1891).

Several genera were named in Pierre's honor: Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (1844-1930) named Pierreodendron of the family Simaroubaceae, and Pierrina of the family Scytopetalaceae; Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier (1873-1956) named Pierreodendron of the family Sapotaceae; and Henry Fletcher Hance (1827-1886) named Pierrea of the family Flacourtiaceae. In 1933 a bust in his honor was dedicated in the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

References

* F. J. Breteler, "Novitates Gabonenses 55. Manuscript names and drawings of the French botanist Louis Pierre (1833-1905): a discussion about their validity with some examples of nomenclatural consequences for the Gabonese flora in particular", Herbarium Vadense, Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen (Netherlands). [http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/6867_a05n2a16.pdf]
* Umberto Quattrocchi (2000). "CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names", CRC Press : 2896 p. ISBN 0849326737.
* A. Chevalier, "J.B.-Louis Pierre, 1833-1905, botaniste français", "Agric. pratiq. Pays Chauds": 1-15, 1906.
* F. Gagnepain, "J.-B.-Louis Pierre (1833-1905). Notice nécrologique", "Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. nat. Paris", sér. 4, 8: xix-xxxi, 1906.
* F. Gagnepain, "Notice biographique sur J.-B.-Louis Pierre", "Bull. Soc. bot. France" 53: 54-59, 1906.
* "Bulletin de la Société des études indo-chinoises de Saigon", v.13, page 179, 1939.
* "Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society", v.59, page 348, 1962.
* "Bulletin de la Société des études indochinoises", pages 184-185, 1974.