François Désiré Roulin (August 1796 – 5 June 1874) was a French naturalist, physician and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

born in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. From 1815 to 1820, he studied medicine at the University of Paris. Roulin visited

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

from 1822 to 1828, becoming an expert on the natural history of the country. In 1824 he served as a scientist on an expedition funded by the Colombian government to survey the Meta River, a tributary of the Orinoco River. In Colombia, he also inspected the gold mines at La Vega de Supía y Marmato, and traveled the Magdalena River.ROULIN, Francois Desire (Médico, Pintor, Dibujante)
translated from Spanish In addition, while in South America, he visited Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.America Exotica
(biographical information) Illustrations from his travels were used by

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

in ''Le Règne Animal'', and by Gaspard Theodore Mollien in ''Voyage dans la République de Colombie''. Several of his watercolors were employed (with minor modifications) for the engravings that adorned ''Voyage pittoresque dans les deux Amériques'' (Paris, 1836), a book by

Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthrop ...

. In Paris, he served as a librarian at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (from 1832), and later as a librarian of the Institut de France (from 1865). He published numerous articles in the following magazines: '' Le Globe'', ''Le Temps'', '' La Revue des Deux Mondes'' and ''Le Magasin picturesque''. Roulin was son-in-law to politician

Joseph Blin Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(1764-1834), and an uncle to mathematician Joseph Bertrand (1822-1900) and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Alexandre Bertrand (1820-1902).

References

French naturalists 1796 births 1874 deaths French illustrators Members of the French Academy of Sciences Physicians from Rennes French explorers Scientists from Rennes {{France-scientist-stub