René Louiche Desfontaines (14 February 1750 – 16 November 1833) was a French

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Desfontaines was born near Tremblay in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He attended the Collège de Rennes and in 1773 went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

. His interest in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

originated from lectures at the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

given by Louis Guillaume Lemonnier. He excelled in his new interest and was elected to the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 1783. He was also a member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine. Desfontaines spent two years in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, returning with a large collection of plants. He wrote ''Flora Atlantica'' (1798–1799, 2 vols), which included 300 genera new to science. In addition, he worked also on ornithology, and presented the findings of his expeditions to Africa for one of the ''Memoires de L'Académie Royale des Sciences''. Although the ''Mémoire'' corresponds to the year 1787, it was not published until 1789 by L'Imprimerie Royal as part of the ''Histoire de L'Académie Royale de Sciences''. The convulsions of the French Revolution may have made the access to the text so scarce that in 1880 the ornithologist

Alfred Newton Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...

republished the original text under the title ''Desfontaines's Mémoire sur quelques nouvelles espèces d'oiseaux des côtes de Barbarie'' on behalf of the Willughby Society of London. In 1786, he was appointed professor of botany at the Jardin des Plantes, replacing Lemonnier. He later became director of the

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

, was one of the founders of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

, president of the Academy of Sciences, and elected to the

Légion d’honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. During the French Revolution he was appointed to the Commission Temporaire des Arts where he shaped a new vision of Natural History. Desfontaines established a herbarium, known as the ''Flora Atlantica'', which has 1480 specimens and contains many type specimens for Mediterranean species. It was left to the City of Paris after his death. The genera '' Desfontainia'' and '' Fontanesia'' are named for this author. The standard author abbreviation Desf. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or cultivar group, Group epithets must conform t ...

List of works

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References

External links

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Works by René Louiche Desfontaines at Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desfontaines, Rene French mycologists French ornithologists French bryologists French phycologists French pteridologists 1750 births 1833 deaths Botanists active in Africa Officers of the French Academy of Sciences Botanists with author abbreviations Foreign members of the Royal Society 18th-century French botanists 19th-century French botanists National Museum of Natural History (France) people