Paul Henri Lecomte (8 January 1856, in Saint-Nabord,

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

– 12 June 1934, 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. S ...

) was a French

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 ...

. In 1884, after attaining a number of degrees, Lecomte became a professor at

Lycée Saint-Louis The lycée Saint-Louis is a highly selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to providing '' classes préparatoires aux grandes ...

in Paris. In addition to his teaching duties, he worked in the botany laboratory of the ''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' ( French National Museum of Natural History) under Philippe van Tieghem. Lecomte obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1889 and subsequently took part in scientific expeditions to

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, the

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French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and

French Indo-China French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

. In 1906, after having volunteered his time for some twenty years at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Lecomte was formally appointed to head the

spermatophyte A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

department, a paid position, succeeding

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. In 1917, he was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He authored over 15 books including: ''Notions de botanique'' ("Botanical Ideas"), ''Formation de la vanilline dans la vanille'' ("The Formation of Vanillin in Vanilla"), ''Les bois d’Indochine'' ("The Trees of Indo-China") and ''Madagascar: les bois de la forêt d'Analamazaotra'' ("Madagascar: The Trees and Flowers of Analamazaotra (Andasibe)").Lecomte, Henri (1922) ''Madagascar: les bois de la forêt d'Analamazaotra'' A. Challamel, Paris
OCLC 6596211
/ref> He retired in 1931.

Notes

References

* Jaussaud, Philippe and Brygoo, Édouard-Raoul (2004) ''Du Jardin au Muséum en 516 Biographies'' Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, 19th-century French botanists Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1934 deaths 1856 births People from Vosges (department) 20th-century French botanists {{France-botanist-stub