Lucien Sabourin (1904–1987) was a French botanist best known for his work with the City of
Paris parks department. An
autodidact
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
, Sabourin initially worked as a gardener with
Vilmorin-Andrieux, rising to the rank of Head of Cultures.
Sabourin left Vilmorin in 1931 to become Head of Studies of the Municipal School of Horticulture at
Breuil, where he also reorganized the collections and library.
After
World War II Sabourin gained the rank of Engineer, and in 1959 was appointed director of the 'Florist Municipal de la Porte d'Auteuil' (:City of Paris Dept. of Plant Production). He was for a long time treasurer of the
National Horticultural Society of France
The National Horticultural Society of France (French: ''Société nationale dhorticulture de France'', or SNHF) is a horticultural society founded in 1827 by Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury. Headquartered in Paris, it comprises specialized de ...
, before becoming its librarian, also directing the French TV series 'Cultivons notre jardin' (Let's Cultivate Our Garden'). A keen writer, he reviewed
Mottet's books on carnations
[Mottet, S. J., (1929). ''Les œillets; historique, description des principales espèces, races et variétés'' Librairie et imprimerie horticoles, 1929. Paris] and climbing plants. However, Sabourin is known internationally only as the author of the name
''Buddleja fallowiana'' var. ''alba''.
[Sabourin, L. (1929). Buddleja fallowiana var. alba. ''Revue Hort.'' (Paris): 101: 418. 1929.][Phillips, R. & Rix, M. (1989). ''Shrubs''. Pan Garden Plant Series. Pan Books, London. ]
Sabourin was appointed an Officer in
l'Ordre National du Mérite L'Ordre can refer to:
* ''L'Ordre'' (novel), 1929 novel by Marcel Arland which won the Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the a ...
in 1969, and also awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Paris.
[Lejeune, D. (2012). Lucien Sabourin. ''La Société Nationale d'Horticulture de France'', Reponds, 03/03/2102, Paris.]
Publications
*Sabourin, L. (1929). Buddleja fallowiana var. alba. ''Revue Hort.'' (Paris): 101: 418. 1929.
References
External links
1904 births
Botanists with author abbreviations
20th-century French botanists
1987 deaths
{{France-botanist-stub