Jean-Baptiste Labat (sometimes called, simply, Père Labat) (1663 – 6 January 1738) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
clergyman,
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 ...
, writer, explorer, ethnographer, soldier, engineer, and landowner.
Life
Labat was born and died in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. He entered the order of the
Dominicans at the age of twenty. He was ordained at the completion of his philosophical and theological studies. Besides preaching, he taught
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
and
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
to secular students at
Nancy. Abandoning this work, he devoted himself to missionary activity and for many years preached in the various churches of France.
In 1693, determined to devote himself to foreign missionary work, he received permission from the general of his order to travel to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, then under French domination. On 29 January 1694, he landed in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
. He was entrusted with the parish of Macouba, where he labored for two years and added many new buildings, including the church.
In 1696 he travelled to
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...
, and was appointed procurator-general of all the Dominican convents in the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
(''Procureur syndic des îles d'Amérique'') upon his return to Martinique.
The French government appointed him as an engineer due to his scientific knowledge. In this capacity, he visited the French, Dutch, and English Antilles from
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...
to
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
. Labat encountered many aspects of Caribbean society, including
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. In his account for the year 1698, Labat included his impressions regarding the slaves of Martinique: "The dance is their favourite passion. I don't think that there is a people on the face of the earth who are more attached to it than they. When the Master will not allow them to dance on the Estate, they will travel three and four leagues, as soon as they knock off work at the sugar-works on Saturday, and betake themselves to some place where they know that there will be a dance."
Labat was no simple observer of slavery, however. As proprietor of the estate of Fonds-Saint-Jacques (in the north, alongside a river of the same name) and founder of the parish of François, both on Martinique, Labat applied himself to modernizing and developing the sugar industry on this island, and owned his own slaves.However, historian Suzanne C. Tczyski reveals a significant tension between, on the
one hand, the missionary’s infamous acceptance and promotion of slaves as a property to be used (and abused), and, on the other, his appreciation of the
nègres as a potential source of knowledge and, more significantly, as Others to know, as representatives of a culture of interest from Labat’s protoanthropological perspective
Fonds-Saint-Jacques was for a long time regarded as a model to be copied. On Martinique, Labat's memory has survived in the vocabulary: ''La Tour du père Labat'' ("
windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
"); ''les chaudières Père Labat'' (the Père Labat boilers"), or the standard of
distillation
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the he ...
known as ''type Père Labat''.
As engineer in Guadeloupe, he took an active part in its defense when the
British attacked the island in 1703. Labat fired several
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
with his own hand. He was appointed ''Vice-Préfet Apostolique'' in the same year.
In 1706, Labat was sent to Europe as deputy of his order. He spent several years in Italy and attended a meeting of the order at
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
, and presenting to the general a report of his work. Labat prepared to return to America, but was denied permission and detained in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
for several years. He traveled to Paris in 1716. He lived in the convent on Rue Saint-Honore until his death. During these years, Labat commenced a long contemplated history of the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
. The work was finally published in six volumes at Paris, in 1722, with copious illustrations made by himself (''Nouveau Voyage aux isles Françoises de l'Amérique'',
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, 1722).
Legacy
*On Martinique, Labat devised new methods for the manufacture of
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
, which remained in use for a long time.
*Labat had a wide reputation as a mathematician and won recognition both as a naturalist and as a scientist. He assisted the botanist
Charles Plumier
Charles Plumier (; 20 April 1646 – 20 November 1704) was a French botanist after whom the frangipani genus ''Plumeria'' is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time. He made three botanizing ...
in his work, while Plumier was in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
. He embodied in the history his scientific observations and treated comprehensively and accurately of the soil, trees, plants, fruits, and herbs of the islands. He also explained the manufactures then in existence and pointed out means for the development of commercial relations.
*His books that deal with
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, "best-sellers" during their time, are ''Nouveau voyage aux iles de l'Amerique'' (6 vols., Paris, 1722; 2d ed., 8 vols., 1742; Dutch translation, 4 vols., Amsterdam, 1725; German, 6 vols., Nuremberg, 1783-'7); and ''Voyage du Chevalier Demarchais en Guinee, iles voisines, et a Cayenne, fait en 1725, 1726, et 1727'' (4 vols., Paris, 1730).
*He published similar works on other countries, drawing information from the notes of other missionaries. His two works on
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
have become well known: ''Nouvelle relation de l'Afrique occidentale'' (Paris, 1728) and ''Relation historique de l'Ethiopie occidentale'' (Congo, Angola, Matamba, after the Italian of Father Cavazzi, Cap. (
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, 1732).
The genus of the tropical fruit tree family Sapotaceae Labatia, first described in 1788, was named after Labat. It was maintained as a distinct entity until the 1930s when it was submerged in the genus ''
Pouteria
''Pouteria'' is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical regions of the world. It includes the canistel ('' P. campechiana''), the mamey sapote ('' P. sapota''), and the l ...
''. In 1972, it was proposed that a new genus called Neolabatia be recognized, containing six species formerly known as Labatia, but this classification is disputed.
References
* ''This article incorporates text from the 1913 ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' article
Jean-Baptiste Labat by Ignatius Smith, a publication now in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
.''
External links
*
WOOD ANATOMY OF THE NEOTROPICAL SAPOTACEAE XXVIII. LABATIA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labat, Jean-Baptiste
18th-century French botanists
French travel writers
18th-century French historians
18th-century French male writers
Botanists active in North America
French Dominicans
Writers from Paris
1663 births
1738 deaths
French male non-fiction writers
18th century in Martinique
17th-century French botanists