Charles Budd Robinson, Jr. (October 26, 1871 – December 5, 1913) was a Canadian

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 ...

and explorer. The standard author abbreviation C.B.Rob. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Early life

Born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

to Charles Budd and Frances Robinson, Robinson gained his degree from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

in 1891 before taking up teaching posts in Kentville and Pictou. He received his doctorate from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1906. Robinson worked with the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

(NYBG) from 1903 to 1908, leaving to become an economic botanist with the Bureau of Science in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. After a brief return to NYBG in 1911, he went back to Manila to continue his research.

Death

Robinson never returned after leaving on a botanical expedition to the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

on December 5, 1913. He was reported as missing on December 11, with the assistant resident of Amboina (now

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) writing about the nature of his disappearance. He concluded that Robinson had been murdered. The report states that Robinson had encountered a native boy who had climbed a coconut tree, startling the boy who was not used to seeing a "European". The boy hurried to his village whereupon the locals feared that Robinson intended to do them harm, possibly believing him to be a head-hunter. Six people from the village killed him and sank his body into the sea. The natives from the village have been described as "binongkos", a band of Sea Gypsies who lived in the Maluku Islands. In Robinson's obituary it was written that he was "struck down by the hands of ignorant and savage natives" while "in the peaceful pursuit of his profession and in his zealous endeavors to augment the sum of human knowledge". Robinson's death may have been caused by linguistic confusion, as he was known to speak the local language quite poorly. The

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

word for coconut, "kelapa" may have been confused with "kepala", the word for "head". If Robinson asked the boy to cut, "potong", down a coconut it may have been mispronounced and heard as a threat to cut off someone's head. There was a local myth of a werewolf-like decapitator called a "potong kepala" and it is speculated Robinson was mistaken for one.

Noted publications

*1903 ''Contributions to a flora of Nova Scotia'' *1906 ''The Chareae of North America'' *1909 ''Philippine Boraginaceae'' *1910 ''Philippine Urticaceae''. The Philippine journal of science. C. Botany *1911 ''Alabastra Philippinensia'' *1912 ''Polycodium''. Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden

References

External links

*
Harvard University Herbaria - Charles Budd Robinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Charles Budd 1871 births 1913 deaths People from Nova Scotia 20th-century Canadian botanists Dalhousie University alumni Columbia University alumni Botanists with author abbreviations Unsolved murders in Indonesia

Early life

Death

See also

Noted publications

References

External links