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

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Born in Narbonne in 1825, Balansa made numerous collecting trips for the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris which holds most of his plant specimens. Others are in

Muséum de Toulouse The Muséum de Toulouse (, MHNT) is a museum of natural history in Toulouse, France. It is in the Busca-Montplaisir, houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items, and has some of exhibition space. Its Index Herbariorum code is TLM. ...

. His first journey, from 1847 to 1848, was to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

and Mostaganem in Algeria. From 1850 to 1853, Balansa returned to Algeria, collecting plants again in Mostaganem and later in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

Muaskar Mascara () is the capital city of Mascara Province, Algeria, in northwestern Algeria. It has 150,000 inhabitants (2008 estimate). It was founded in the 10th century by the Banu Ifran, a Berber tribe and was the capital city of Emir Abd al-Qadi ...

, the Northern

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, Biskra and

Batna Batna or BATNA may refer to: *Batna (city), Algeria *Batna Province, Algeria *Best alternative to a negotiated agreement In negotiation theory, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA (no deal option) refers to the most advantageou ...

. From 1854 to 1855 he undertook his first trip to Asia travelling first to Smyrna and the surrounding regions in April and May, 1854. From March until October 1855 he lived in

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

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 coas ...

. The following year, he travelled from June until September 1856 from Tarsus to

Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...

in Cappadocia. In 1857 he settled with his family in Smyrna. From May until July 1857 he explored Uşak and the surrounding area and until 1865 he undertook tours to

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

and

. In 1866, he made a trip to Lazistan and the Caucasus, where he collected from June to August in the area of Trabzon and Rize. 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 Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, Marakesh-Safi, on the ...

, the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

and

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

. From 1868 to 1872 Balansa stayed overseas in

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and the Loyalty Islands. During this time he was Director of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Nouméa. 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 and undertook a trip to the island of Java. 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 o ...

, 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