- Jean Michel Claude Richard
Jean Michel Claude Richard (August 16, 1787 - 1868) was a noted French
botanist and plant collector active inSenegal ,Madagascar ,Mauritius , andRéunion , and a Chevalier of theLégion d'honneur .Richard was born in
Volon ,Haute-Saône . He was sent toSenegal in 1816 as the colony's gardener-in-chief, but served without obvious distinction until the arrival in 1822 ofBaron Jacques-François Roger (1787-1849) who entrusted to Richard the creation of an experimental garden on the left bank of theSénégal River , near the village of Nghiao, and named it "Richard Toll " (toll means "garden" in theWolof language ). Richard was responsible for all plants, buildings, and facilities, and under his direction a number of new species were introduced to Senegal, includingbanana s,manioc , oranges,sugar cane , andcoffee . In February 1824 Richard was sent toCayenne . Directed on July 30, 1824 to keep a diary of his experiences, he developed a catalog of the garden's species, and left Senegal in 1825.In January 1831 Richard became second director of the Jardin du Roy (now the
Jardin de l'État ) in the Île Bourbon (nowRéunion ), succeedingNicolas Bréon . Under his leadership the garden achieved its golden age. He introduced some 3,000 plant species to the colony, by his reckoning, while studyingcryptogam s,fern s, andorchid s. He also sentlichen s fromMauritius to the German specialistFerdinand Christian Gustav Arnold (1828-1901).In retrospect, Richard's life has been marred by controversy. In 1841, when the young slave
Edmond Albius (1829-1880) discovered the process ofartificial insemination ofvanilla , Richard claimed to have discovered the technique three or four years earlier. His story created serious doubts about Albius' claims, despite the support for Albius ofFéréol Marie Bellier de Beaumont (1759-1831), naturalistEugene Volcy Focard , and Méziaires of Lepervanche. By the end of the 20th century, Albius was considered the true discoverer.Selected works
* "Catalogue du jardin de La Réunion", 1 vol. in 8°, 113 pages, 1856.
References
* Guillaume Grandidier, "Bibliographie de Madagascar", vol. 2, Comité de Madagascar, 1935, page 862.
* [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Michel_Claude_Richard French wikipedia entry: Jean Michel Claude Richard]
* [http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.AP.PERSON.BM000038802&pgs=&cookieSet=1 Aluka entry]
* [http://chring.club.fr/lavergne_jardin_etat.html Visite du Jardin du Roy (French)]
* [http://reunion.rfo.fr/article534.html RFO article on Edmond Albius (French)] , 29 May 2006
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.