Félix de Avelar Brotero (25 November 1744 – 4 August 1828) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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 professor. He fled to

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 ...

in 1788 to escape persecution by the

Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition ( Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...

, and there published his ''Compendio de Botanica'' in order to earn his living. It immediately established his reputation as a botanist, and upon his return to Portugal in 1790 he was given the chair of

botany 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 w ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

. His two best known works, ''Flora lusitanica'', 1804, and ''Phytographia Lusitaniae selectior'', 1816–1827, were the first lengthy descriptions of native Portuguese plants. As director of the botanical gardens at

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

(see

Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra ( or simply ''Jardim Botânico'') is a botanical garden in Coimbra, Portugal. History It was founded in 1772 by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (the Marquis of Pombal). The location for ...

) and Ajuda (

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

), he reorganized and enlarged them.

List of selected publications

* *
Part 1
*
Part 2

References

External links

Universidade de Coimbra. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia. Departamento de Botânica
* * 1744 births 1828 deaths 18th-century Portuguese botanists 19th-century Portuguese botanists People from Loures University of Coimbra faculty {{Portugal-botanist-stub