Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert (14 February 1773 – 1 March 1847) was a French

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and naturalist. He was an honorary member of the Académie des Sciences and many species were named from his natural history collections.

Biography

He was born at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, the son of Étienne Delessert (1735–1816), the founder of the first fire insurance company and the first discount bank in France. Their ancestors had moved from Switzerland after 1685. Young Delessert was travelling in England when the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

broke out, but he hastened back to join the

Paris National Guard 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. ...

in 1790, becoming an officer of artillery in 1793. His father bought him out of the army, however, in 1795 in order to entrust him with the management of his bank. Gifted with remarkable energy, he started many commercial enterprises, founding the first

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

factory at

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...

in 1801, and a

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 double ...

factory in 1802 where Jean-Baptiste Quéruel developed the industrial manufacture of sugar from sugar beet, and for which he was created a

baron of the Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found that th ...

. He sat in the

chamber of deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for many years from 1815, and was a strong advocate for many humane measures, notably the suppression of the Tours or revolving box at the foundling hospital, the suppression of the death penalty, and the improvement of the penitentiary system. He was made regent of the

Bank of France The Bank of France ( French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the F ...

in 1802, and was also member of, and, indeed, founder of many, learned and philanthropic societies. In 1818 he founded with

Jean-Conrad Hottinger Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer (15 February 1764, Zurich – 12 September 1841, Castle Piple, Boissy-Saint-Léger) was a Swiss-born French banker who later became a Baron of the French Empire. Biography Career In 1784, Hottinguer left the city ...

the first

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings account, savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. History of banking, They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providi ...

in France, the

Groupe Caisse d'Epargne A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

and maintained a keen interest in it until his death in 1847. He is buried in Rue Lekain. Benjamin had one daughter, Caroline Delessert. In 1858 Caroline married Baron Jean-Henri Hottinguer. He was also an ardent

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

conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

; his botanical library contained 30,000 volumes, of which he published a catalogue ''Musée botanique de M. Delessert'' (1845). He also wrote ''Des avantages de la caisse d'épargne et de prévoyance'' (1835), ''Mémoire sur un projet de bibliothèque royale'' (1836), ''Le Guide de bonheur'' (1839), and ''Recueil de coquilles décrites par Lamarck'' (1841–42). His major botanical collaborators were

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candol ...

and Pedro Cláudio Dinamarquez Clausen. He was honoured in 1813, when botanist

Jean Vincent Félix Lamouroux Jean Vincent Félix Lamouroux (3 May 1779 – 26 March 1825) was a French biologist and naturalist, noted for his seminal work with algae. Biography Lamouroux was born in Agen in the Aquitaine of southwestern France, the son of Claude Lamouroux, ...

published '' Delesseria'', which is a genus of

red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...

belonging to the family

Delesseriaceae The Delesseriaceae is a family of about 100 genera of marine red alga. Genera As accepted by AlgaeBase AlgaeBase is a global species database of information on all groups of algae, both marine and freshwater, as well as sea-grass. History ...

. A boulevard in the XVIth arrondissement and a road in the Xth arrondissement are named after Delessert.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delessert, Benjamin 19th-century French botanists French bankers Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1773 births 1847 deaths Regents of the Banque de France