Ethelbert Blatter
SJ (15 December 1877 – 26 May 1934) was a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest and pioneering botanist in
British India. Author of five books and over sixty papers on the flora of the
Indian subcontinent, he was Principal and Professor of Botany at
St Xavier College,
Bombay and Vice-President of the
Bombay Natural History Society. In 1932, he became the first recipient of the
Johannes Bruehl Memorial Medal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal
The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
.
[McCann, C. 1934. "Ethelbert Blatter, S.J." ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society,'' xxxvii(2):465-473.]
Early life
Blatter was born in the
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
of
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Appenzell Innerrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadens; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Interno) is one of the 26 cantons ...
in northeastern
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in a region near Mount
Säntis. Having lost his father at an early age, he was raised by an uncle, a popular doctor in the municipality of
Rebstein in the neighboring
Canton of St. Gallen. The young Blatter lived in his uncle's home, a castle overlooking Rebstein and located in the
Rhine valley just before the river's union with
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
(Bodensee). After finishing elementary education in Rebstein, Blatter attended middle school in
Sarnen
, neighboring_municipalities= Alpnach, Entlebuch (LU), Flühli (LU), Giswil, Hasle (LU), Kerns, Sachseln
, twintowns =
Sarnen is a small historic town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores of ...
, the capital of the
Canton of Obwalden, in
Central Switzerland. His classmates at Sarnen remembered him as not only brilliant in every subject, but also a high-spirited companion with a reputation for pranks. After Sarnen, Blatter went on to have a brilliant career in high school in
Schwyz, capital of the
Canton of Schwyz, northeast of the canton of Obwalden. In October 1896, after finishing high school, Blatter moved to the border town of
Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to:
Places
* Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria
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* Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the municip ...
,
Austria to join the Noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus. Since German Jesuits were in exile under
Bismarck, Blatter moved to the Netherlands in 1898 to first pursue classical studies and then study philosophy in the college of
Valkenburg aan de Geul in the southernmost province of
Limburg. Around this time, he also developed an interest in botany and attended many scientific conferences in
Europe.
[
]
India I
In 1903, Blatter moved to India and was appointed Professor of Botany at St Xavier's College Bombay. The following year, he joined the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and began to contribute articles, the first of which was "The Fauna and Flora of Our Metallic Money," an article which (somewhat humorously) catalogued the microorganisms commonly found on various coins in India. In pursuit of his researches, Blatter traveled extensively within India. His most important contributions from this time were a series of articles written between 1904 and 1909 (although published later) and titled, ''The Palms of British India and Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, Indigenous and Introduced''. The articles were subsequently published in book form by Oxford University Press.
Theological studies in Europe
Returning to Europe in 1909, Blatter chose to complete his theological studies in Hastings, South East England, where exiled Jesuits from two French provinces had opened a school of theology. During this time, Blatter also spent much time researching and compiling his papers, ''Flora of Aden'', at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Ordained as a priest on 25 August 1912, Blatter spent another year in the Netherlands, before returning to London to compile data for his next effort, ''Flora Arabica''. Still in London when Great War broke out, Blatter booked his passage to India on a Japanese boat. Despite facing rifle fire from Turkish soldiers in the Suez Canal, the ship's journey was mostly uneventful, and Blatter arrived in Bombay in October 1915.[
]
India II
Returning to his position as professor of botany at St Xavier's, Blatter expended great energy during the next few years both traveling and building an extensive botanical collection. Consequently, St. Xavier's College had one of the best herbaria in Western India during those years. He was appointed principal of the college in 1919, retaining his professorial chair until 1924. He also became a prominent member of Bombay University Senate, and played a major role in influencing later university reforms.[
In 1925 Blatter retired to ]Panchgani
Panchgani, called Paachgani (पाचगणी in Marathi), is a hill station and municipal council in Satara district in Maharashtra, India. Panchgani attracts tourists throughout the year. It is also known for having many residential educat ...
as parish priest, and began to focus more on his botanical studies. His series of papers with W.S. Millard titled, ''Some Beautiful Indian Trees'' were published around this time. These papers too resulted in a book of the same name, a classic, still in print. Other books pertaining to India from this time were the two-volume ''Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir'' (1927, 1928); ''The Flora of the Indus Delta'' (with Charles McCann
Yule Mervyn Charles McCann (4 December 1899 – 29 November 1980) was a naturalist in India. He wrote a popular book on the trees of India and edited a major regional flora apart from publishing many of his other observations, mainly in the jou ...
and T. S. Sabnis, 1929); and ''The Ferns of Bombay'' (with J. F. D'Almeida, 1932).[Blatter, E. and J. F. D'Almeida. 1932. ''The Ferns of Bombay.'' D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay. pp. vii, 228, 15 plates.] The following year he was elected Vice-President of BNHS.
In 1930, during an expedition to Waziristan, a political agency in the North-West Frontier Province of British India,["Waziristan, North" and "Waziristan, South." 1908. In '' Imperial Gazetteer of India'', vol 24, pp. 379-384.] Blatter had a bad fall from a horse, and the resulting injuries brought on a partial paralysis. From that point onwards, his health began to fail. In 1932. in recognition of his botanical work, Fr. Blatter received the first Johannes Bruehl Memorial Medal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
for "Conspicuous Important contributions to the knowledge of Asiatic Botany."[
Fr. Ethelbert Blatter died on 26 May 1934 at ]St. Vincent's High School
St. Vincent's High School is a private Catholic primary and secondary school and pre-university college for boys located in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India. The English-medium convent school was founded by the Jesuits in 1867, located an ...
, Pune.
Selected publications
*
See also
* Bombay Natural History Society
* Walter Samuel Millard
Walter Samuel Millard (1864–1952) was a British entrepreneur and naturalist who was honorary secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society, editor of the ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' from 1906 to 1920, co-author (with E ...
* Blatter Herbarium
The Blatter Herbarium (BLAT), in St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, is a major Herbarium in India. It is listed in the ''Index Herbariorum'', published by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and New York Botanical Garden. The Herbarium s ...
References
External links
The Ferns of Bombay (scanned book)
Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir. Volume 1 (1927)Volume 2 (1928)
Blatter, E; Charles McCann (1935) Bombay grasses. ICAR, Delhi.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blatter, Ethelbert
1877 births
1934 deaths
19th-century Swiss botanists
Swiss Jesuits
Naturalists of British India
Catholic clergy scientists
Jesuit scientists
People from Appenzell Innerrhoden
20th-century Swiss botanists
Members of the Bombay Natural History Society