William Barbey (1842–1914) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

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 ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. William Barbey was born on 14 July 1842 at

Genthod Genthod is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Genthod is first mentioned around 1301-1400 as ''Gentouz''. Geography Genthod has an area, , of . Of this area, or 36.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 8.0% ...

in 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 ...

. He studied science at the Academy in Geneva and then engineering at the École Centrale de Paris. From 1862 to 1869, he worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He married

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

, the daughter of the prominent botanist

Edmond Boissier Pierre Edmond Boissier (25 May 1810 Geneva – 25 September 1885 Valeyres-sous-Rances) was a Swiss prominent botanist, explorer and mathematician. He was the son of Jacques Boissier (1784-1857) and Caroline Butini (1786-1836), daughter of Pier ...

. After his marriage, he studied

botany 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 w ...

and undertook botanical research in

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and

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. In 1885, he founded the publication ''Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier'', which in 1910 became the ''Bulletin de la société botanique de Genève''. He built, largely at his own expense, the Yverdon–Saint-Croix railway. However, as a supporter of

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

observance, he insisted that the trains did not run on that day. He lived in, and was an honorary citizen of,

Valeyres-sous-Rances Valeyres-sous-Rances (, literally ''Valeyres under Rances'') is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Geography Valeyres-sous-Rances has an area, , of . Of this area, or 81.6% is used for a ...

in the

canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

. From 1885 to 1909, he was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

Grand Council of Vaud The Grand Council of Vaud (french: Grand Conseil de Vaud) is the legislature of the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. Vaud has a unicameral legislature. The Great Council has 150 seats, with members elected every five years. The last electio ...

. He died on 18 November 1914 at Chambésy.

References

External links

* 1842 births 1914 deaths Scientists from Geneva Politics of the canton of Vaud 19th-century Swiss botanists Taxon authorities of Hypericum species 20th-century Swiss botanists {{Switzerland-bio-stub