Jean Thadée Emmanuel Dybowski (18 April 1856 – 18 December 1928) was a French

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

, naturalist and explorer of Polish heritage born in

Charonne The Charonne quarter is an area of the 20th arrondissement of Paris named after a former municipality in the area, which was merged into the city of Paris in 1860 by Napoleon III and split between Charonne quarter (south part), the Père-Lachais ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

. He was the cousin of the Polish naturalists

Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...

and Władysław Dybowski.

Biography

Born in Charonne, near Paris to Polish parents Józef Dybowski (1812-1885) and Kamila Kosiorowska (1826-1888) who settled in France after the failed November Uprising of 1831. He was a cousin of

. He studied at the ''École nationale supérieure d'agronomie'' in Grignon, where in 1877 he became a lecturer. From 1889 he performed developmental research in southern

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

. In March 1891, he left

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

for the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...

on a mission with designs of expanding and consolidating French influence in the region north of the

Ubangi River The Ubangi River (), also spelled Oubangui, is the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River in the region of Central Africa. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mean annual discharge ...

. In Africa, he was to join forces with explorer

Paul Crampel Paul Crampel (17 November 1864 – 9 April 1891) was a French explorer who explored Africa in the areas of present-day Gabon and Chad. He was killed while on an expedition to Lake Chad. Biography Crampel was born in Nancy. After finishing ...

(1864–1891) and to set up outposts in the interior of the continent. When he reached Brazzaville, he was informed that Crampel had been murdered, but nonetheless continued on with the expedition. On 22 November he entered the village of Yabanda, where he reportedly avenged the death of Crampel. Soon afterwards, he reached the village of Makourou, north of the

Shari River The Chari River, or Shari River, is a long river, flowing in Central Africa. It is Lake Chad's main source of water. Geography The Chari River flows from the Central African Republic through Chad into Lake Chad, following the Cameroon border f ...

, but was compelled to turn back south due to shortage of provisions. Dybowski returned to France in April 1892, and despite limited success of the mission from a political standpoint, significant geographical information of the area between the Ubangi and Shari Rivers was gained, as well as important zoological specimens being collected. For a period of time, he served as a director of agriculture and commerce in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. He was also an organizer and director of colonial test gardens, and is credited with establishing the agricultural station at

Nogent-sur-Marne Nogent-sur-Marne () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Nogent-sur-Marne is a '' sous-préfecture'' of the Val-de-Marne ''département'', being the seat of the Arrondissement of Nogent-s ...

. During his career, he received numerous distinctions, including being an officer of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. He was a founder of the French Institute of Colonial Agronomy in Paris, and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning in Kraków.

Biodiversity legacy

In 1892, ornithologist

Émile Oustalet Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet (24 August 1844 – 23 October 1905 Saint-Cast) was a French zoologist.Hellmayr CE (1906). "Emile Oustalet bituary. ''Ornithologische Monatsberichte'' 14 (4): 57-59Scan Oustalet was born at Montbéliard, in the de ...

(1844–1905) named an African finch species,

Dybowski's twinspot Dybowski's twinspot (''Euschistospiza dybowskii'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 450,000 km2. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democrat ...

(''Euschistospiza dybowskii'') after him, as did the American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Mary Jane Rathbun with the

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 ...

n freshwater crab (''

Potamonautes dybowskii ''Potamonautes'' is a genus of African freshwater crabs in the family Potamonautidae. It is both the most widespread and most diverse genus of African freshwater crabs, including more than half the species of this continent.Yeo, C.J.; Klaus, S.; ...

''). The

Pousargues's mongoose Pousargues's mongoose (''Dologale dybowskii''), also known as the African tropical savannah mongoose, is a mongoose native to Central Africa. It is listed as data deficient on the IUCN Red List as little is known about its distribution and ecology ...

(''Dologale dybowskii'') is also named after him, as he collected the type-specimens of the species in 1892 during his mission along the

Written works

* ''La Route Du Tchad Du Loango Au Chari'' (1893) * ''Guide du jardinage'' (1899). * ''Le Congo méconnu'' (1912).
World Cat Identities

References

International Who's Who Publishing Company - 1911
Biography & Autobiography {{DEFAULTSORT:Dybowski, Jean French agronomists 1856 births 1928 deaths French explorers Explorers of Africa Scientists from Paris French people of Polish descent

Biography

Biodiversity legacy

Written works

See also

References