Sebastián Vidal y Soler (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, April 1, 1842 –

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, July 28, 1889) was a Spanish forester and botanist. Sebastián Vidal and his lesser known brother, Domingo, studied at the Spanish forestry school. In the 1870s they both took up posts in the forestry service of the Philippines, which was a Spanish colonial possession. Sebastián Vidal had a particular interest in woody plants, but studied Malesian flora in general, collecting specimens, collaborating with other botanists, and publishing a number of works including ''Revision de Plantas Vasculares Filipinas'' (

1886). In 1883 he was back in Europe and visited herbaria there including that of

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

. Vidal served as director of the Botanical Garden of Manila from 1878 until his death in 1889 from cholera. A statue of Vidal by

Enric Clarasó Enric Clarasó i Daudí (14 September 1857, Sant Feliu del Racó, now a suburb of Barcelona – 1941, Barcelona) was a modernist Catalan sculptor. Biography He was born into a family of artisans.Noel Clarsó. ''Clarasó. Col•lecció Gent nostr ...

was erected in the Garden, although it no longer survives.

Honours

In 1887 a Philippines Exposition was organised in Madrid. There was a section devoted to ''Geografía botánica del Archipiélago, su flora, la forestal y fauna'' ('Botanical geography of the Archipelago, its flora, forest and fauna'). Plants were exhibited at the newly constructed

Palacio de Cristal The Palacio de Cristal ("Glass Palace") is a conservatory located in the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain. The Palacio de Cristal, in the shape of a Greek cross, is made almost entirely of glass set in an iron framework on a brick base, which ...

in the

Retiro Park The Buen Retiro Park (Spanish: ''Parque del Buen Retiro'', literally "Good retirement park"), Retiro Park or simply El Retiro is one of the largest parks of the city of Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th ...

. For his contribution, Vidal received the honour of entry into the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

Plant specimens

Although the herbarium in Manila was destroyed in a fire in 1897, some of Vidal's specimens of Philippine flora are preserved in Europe to this day, at Kew,Adiantum caudatum
Herbarium Catalogue. Kew. where he collaborated with

Robert Allen Rolfe Robert Allen Rolfe (1855, Wilford, Nottinghamshire – 1921, Richmond, Surrey) was an English botanist specialising in the study of orchids. For a time he worked in the gardens at Welbeck Abbey. He entered Kew in 1879 and became second assistant. ...

, and at Madrid's

Real Jardín Botánico Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

, where, since Vidal's death Benjamín Máximo Laguna and later scholars have worked on them.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal y Soler, Sebastian 19th-century Spanish botanists Botanists active in the Philippines Spanish foresters Spanish people of the colonial Philippines Infectious disease deaths in the Philippines Filipino foresters 1842 births 1889 deaths Forestry in Spain Forestry in the Philippines Deaths from cholera