Marie-Clément Rodier,

C.S.Sp. , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

(; born Vital Rodier; 1839–1904) was a French missionary

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He is credited with creating the

clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...

variety of

mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-coloured ...

in 1902.

Rodier was born 25 May 1839 as Vital Rodier in Malvieille, near to

Chambon-sur-Dolore Chambon-sur-Dolore (, literally ''Chambon on Dolore''; oc, Vès Chambon de Dolòra) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Originally a member of the Brothers of the Annunciation at

Misserghin Misserghin is a city in Boutlélis District, Oran Province, Algeria. Its territory is mainly covered by a salt lake called the ''Sebkha of Oran''. In city, the known fruit clementine were discovered by Father Clément Rodier in 1892. Dr. Chérif ...

in Algeria, he helped to run an orphanage. Brother Marie-Clément worked with the orphanage's citrus trees, and made

grafts Grafting refers to a surgical procedure to move tissue from one site to another on the body, or from another creature, without bringing its own blood supply with it. Instead, a new blood supply grows in after it is placed. A similar technique ...

from an uncultivated tree that had grown among some thorn bushes in the orchard. This graft resulted in the clementine, which was named in honor of its creator. Brother Marie-Clément's new variety was "a species of mandarin, which won the admiration of connoisseurs and which the orphans christened the Clementine. It was neither a mandarin tree nor an orange tree. Its fruit was redder than a mandarin and had a delicious taste and, moreover, it had no pith". Brother Marie-Clément became a brother in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit after the Brothers of the Annunciation were authorized to join that order in 1903. He died in 1904. In 2010, a building on the campus of

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

was named Clement Hall in honor of Brother Marie-Clément.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodier, Clement 1839 births 1904 deaths People from Puy-de-Dôme French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Algeria Holy Ghost Fathers