Benjamin Balansa Gaspard Joseph Benedict Balansa, also known as Benjamin Balansa or Benedict Balansa (25 March 1825 – 2 November 1891) was a French botanist. Born in

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

in 1825, Balansa made numerous collecting trips for the

Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris which holds most of his plant specimens. Others are in Muséum de Toulouse. His first journey, from 1847 to 1848, was to Algiers and

Mostaganem Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of O ...

in Algeria. From 1850 to 1853, Balansa returned to Algeria, collecting plants again in Mostaganem and later in Oran, Muaskar, the Northern Sahara,

Biskra Biskra ( ar, بسكرة ; ; Latin Vescera) is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about 248 miles (400 km) from Algiers, 71 miles (115&n ...

and Batna. From 1854 to 1855 he undertook his first trip to Asia travelling first to

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and the surrounding regions in April and May, 1854. From March until October 1855 he lived in Mersin and the Taurus Mountains of

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

. The following year, he travelled from June until September 1856 from Tarsus to Kayseri in Cappadocia. In 1857 he settled with his family in Smyrna. From May until July 1857 he explored

Uşak Uşak (; el, Ουσάκειον, Ousakeion) is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 500,000 (2016 census) and is the capital of Uşak Province. Uşak city is situated at a distance of from İz ...

and the surrounding area and until 1865 he undertook tours to Phrygia and

. In 1866, he made a trip to

Lazistan Lazistan ( lzz, ლაზონა, Lazona; ka, ლაზეთი, Lazeti, or ჭანეთი ''Ç'aneti''; ota, لازستان, Lazistān) is a historical and cultural region of the Caucasus and Anatolia, traditionally inhabited by the Laz ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, where he collected from June to August in the area of

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

and

Rize Rize (Greek: ρίζα, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital w ...

. In autumn 1866 he returned to France. A year later, in 1867 he collected in Morocco in the area of

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

, the Atlas Mountains and Marrakech. From 1868 to 1872 Balansa stayed overseas in New Caledonia and the

Loyalty Islands The Loyalty Islands Province (French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of ...

. During this time he was Director of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...

. From 1873 to 1877, he made his first trip to Paraguay, followed by a second from 1878 to 1884. In the years from 1885 to 1889, he collected in

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includ ...

and undertook a trip to the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

. In his (1890) second stay at Balansa died in Hanoi. Entada phaseoloides MHNT.BOT.2007.26.55.jpg, ''Entada phaseoloides'' Balansa collection MHNT Luffa aegyptiaca MHNT.BOT.2007.26.52.jpg, ''Luffa aegyptiaca'' Balansa collection MHNT Raphia farinifera MHNT.BOT.2007.26.50.jpg, ''Raphia farinifera'' Balansa collection MHNT Cassia fistula MHNT.BOT.2007.26.54.jpg, ''Cassia fistula'' Balansa collection MHNT Coco de mer .jpg, ''Lodoicea maldivica'', Balansa collection MHNT Adansonia digitata MHNT.BOT.2007.26.26.jpg, ''Adansonia digitata'' Balansa collection MHNT Solenanthus lanatus MHNT Balansa.jpg, ''Solenanthus lanatus'' Balansa collection MHNT

Notes

References

*Gaston Astre, 1947. ''La Vie de Benjamin Balansa, botaniste explorateur''. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Toulouse. *

Asuman Baytop Dr. Asuman Baytop (27 March 1920 - 18 February 2015) was a Turkish botanist, plant collector, pharmacologist, and educator known for her research regarding the medicinal properties of the flora of Turkey. In 1964, she founded the Department of ...

, Michele Nicolas,2006. ''Ondokuzuncu yüzyılda Anadolu’da bir bitki toplayıcısı: Benjamin Balansa (1825–1891). In: Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları''. Band 8, Nummer 1, 2006, S. 105–112 (Pdf). *A. Chevalier, 1942. L’oeuvre d’un grand botaniste colonial méconnu: Benjamin Balansa. In: ''Revue de Botanique appliquée et d’Agronomie tropicale''. Band 22, 1942, S. 241-251. *A. Guillaumin, 1911. Histoire des explorations botaniques en Nouvelle-Calédonie et aux îles Loyalty. In: ''Annales du Musée colonial de Marseille''. 2. Folge, Band 19, 1911, S. 291–299 (online). *Philippe Morat, 2005. Les Botanistes récolteurs en Nouvelle-Calédonie de 1774 à 2005. In: ''Adansonia''. Band 32, Nummer 2, 2010, S. 159–216 (doi:10.5252/a2010n2a1). {{DEFAULTSORT:Balansa, Benedict 19th-century French botanists 1825 births 1891 deaths People from Narbonne

See also

Notes

References