Léon Joseph Henry Humblot (3 June 1852 in Nancy – 20 March 1914) was a French naturalist and botanical collector.Historical Dictionary of the Comoro Islands
by Martin Ottenheimer, Harriet Ottenheimer He worked as a gardener for the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris, then in 1878 embarked on a research trip to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, where he set up an experimental garden and collected

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

species. In 1884 he entered the Comoros Islands as part of a geographical survey conducted by the natural history museum. In 1885 he procured the signature of a treaty with the Sultan of Bambao, thus establishing a basis for a "Grande Comore protectorate". During the following year, the French had overall rule of the Comoros ( Grande Comore,

Anjouan Anjouan (; also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and historically as Johanna or Hinzuan) is an autonomous high island in the Indian Ocean that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. Its chief town is Mutsamudu and, , its population is around 277,500. ...

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...

and Moheli islands).JSTOR Global Plants
Humblot, Léon (1852–1914) On the island of Grande Comore, Humblot founded a colonial company that oversaw the operations of several farms, plantations and processing factories for spices and perfumes. From 1889 to 1896, he held the title of '' Résident'', being forced to relinquish the status in 1896 due to charges of corruption by the French government. While stationed in the Comoros, he collected botanical specimens that were sent to naturalist Alfred Grandidier (1836–1921). The herbarium of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in

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 ...

also received numerous items from Humblot (including 1300

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

specimens). During his career, Humblot also collected

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

entomological Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

specimens. The botanical genera '' Humblotia'', ''Humblotiella'' and ''Humblotiodendron'' commemorate his name. In addition, Humblot's heron,

Humblot's flycatcher Humblot's flycatcher (''Humblotia flavirostris'') or the Grand Comoro flycatcher, is a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. It is the only member of its genus. Humblot's flycatcher is endemic to the island of Grand ...

, and Humblot's sunbird are named after him.

Publications associated with Léon Humblot

* "66 phot. des Comores, de Nossi-Bé et de Madagascar, avec des portraits de Said Ali, sultan de la Grande Comore, et de ses ministres, de son frére Mohammed Ali, d'un autre frére, Mohammed Sidi, du général en chef, du premier ministre, de la femme légitime, de princesses de la Grande Comore, de Léon Humblot, résident français dans cette île, du prince Said Omar de Mayotte. Phot. par Léon Humblot, don Alphonse Milne-Edwards en 1885", (with

Alphonse Milne-Edwards Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist, ornithologist, and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who se ...

) – 66 photographs, the Comoros,

Nossi-Bé Nosy Be (formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of , and its population was 109,465 according to the provisional results of t ...

and

, etc. * "La vie et les activités de Léon Humblot à la Grande Comores, 1884–1915" (2010); author Nasfati Mze Ahamada; Sudel Fuma; Université de la Réunion. Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines.WorldCat Title
La vie et les activités de Léon Humblot à la Grande Comores

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humblot, Leon 1852 births 1914 deaths French naturalists 19th-century French botanists Scientists from Nancy, France 20th-century French botanists