Richard Émile Augustin de Candolle
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Richard Émile Augustin de Candolle (8 December 1868,
Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...
– 4 May 1920, Vallon) was a Swiss botanist and was British consul to the
Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...
between 1912 and 1918.


Early life and education

Richard Émile Augustin de Candolle was the grandson of
Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (28 October 18064 April 1893) was a French-Swiss botanist, the son of the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. Biography De Candolle, son of Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, first devot ...
, and son of
Casimir de Candolle Anne Casimir Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (20 February 1836, Geneva – 3 October 1918, Chêne-Bougeries) was a Swiss botanist, the son of Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle. Early life and education He studied chemistry, physics and mathematic ...
and Anna-Mathilde Marcet, granddaughter of William Marcet. He had three siblings: Raymond Charles de Candolle 1864–1935, Florence Pauline Lucienne de Candolle 1865–1943 and Reyne Marguerite de Candolle 1876–1958. Having initially studied in Geneva, he was sent to England because of the maternal family connections and, in 1883, was sent to
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
where he remained until 1887. He then spent time in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to improve his German before returning to London to study for the Civil Service, with the intention of entering the
Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...
. However, he was obliged to abandon that ambition and, instead, studied for a career in law in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
and
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
from 1890 to 1893. Despite this he was always oriented towards botany, and, returning to Geneva, he vowed to continue the botanical family dynasty. He married Louise de Saugy in 1895 and they had three daughters and two sons.


Career

Not having particularly prepared for a career in botany, he was mentored by his father. He made a study of the east Madagascan collection of Emile Mocquerys, publishing several descriptions of new species in conjunction with colleagues. In 1912 he was called to work for the British consulate, a role for which his formal education had prepared him well. The demands of this, particularly during the four years of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, inevitably reduced his botanical studies. The death of his father in 1918, and the end of war prompted him to resign from the consulate and he was set to continue his botanic career with renewed vigour. His death, at the age of 51, was unexpected. After his death, the de Candolle herbarium collection comprising 400,000 specimens and substantial library of 14,000 works, (which included a copy of the 1485, Herbarius latinus, the earliest illustrated work known, along with other pre-Linnean works) was donated to the city of Geneva


Awards, honours and affiliations

Member of: * Swiss Society of Natural Sciences * Botanical Society of Geneva, president 1903–1907 * Botanical Society of Switzerland * Geneva Society of Physical and Natural History, of which he was first treasurer, then president in 1914


References

* *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Candolle, Richard Emile Augustin de 19th-century Swiss botanists People from the canton of Geneva People educated at Rugby School Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland 1868 births 1920 deaths 20th-century Swiss botanists