Étienne Fiacre Louis Raoul (23 July 1815 – 30 March 1852) was a French
naval surgeon and naturalist.
He was born in
Brest, the son of
Joseph-François Raoul Joseph-François is a given name, and may refer to:
* Joseph-François Armand (1820-1903), Canadian politician
* Joseph-François de Payan (1759-1852), French political figure
* Joseph-François Deblois (1797-1860), Canadian lawyer, judge and po ...
, a captain in the
French Navy, and studied at the medical school in Brest. He was appointed surgeon, third class, in 1836. He took part in an expedition on the ship ''L'Aube'' under the command of Lieutenant Lavaud. He landed at the
Bay of Islands in
New Zealand on 11 July 1840, and departed three years later aboard ''L'Allier''.
After returning to Paris, he worked at the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) under the direction of
Adolphe Brongniart
''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...
(1801–1876) and
Joseph Decaisne (1807–1882) to describe and classify the large number of specimens collected during his stay in New Zealand. At the same time, he studied medicine and obtained his doctorate in 1844 with the thesis ''Des rapports des maladies aigües et chroniques du cœur avec les affections dites rhumatismales'' ("Reports of acute and chronic coronary diseases with rheumatic ailments").
In 1846 he published a book ''Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande'' ("Selected plants of New Zealand").
After a short expedition to Africa in 1846, he became medical professor at the port of Brest in 1849. In 1851 he published ''Guide hygiénique et médical pour les bâtiments de commerce qui fréquentent la Côte Occidentale d’Afrique'' ("Sanitary and medical guide for merchant vessels visiting the West Coast of Africa").
In the 'jardin des explorateurs' at Brest, his place of death is given as
Lannilis.
The genus ''
Raoulia
''Raoulia'' is a genus of New Zealand plants in the tribe Gnaphalieae within the family Asteraceae.
Many ''Raoulia'' species grow in alpine areas, forming very fine and dense growths. These compact growths form large amorphous cushion-like masse ...
'' was named after him by
Joseph Dalton Hooker.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raoul, Etienne Fiacre Louis
19th-century French botanists
1815 births
1852 deaths
Naval surgeons