João de Loureiro (1717,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

– 18 October 1791) was a Portuguese

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

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 ...

Biography

After receiving admission to the

Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

, João de Loureiro served as a missionary in Goa, capital of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a s ...

(3 years) and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

(4 years). In 1742 he traveled to

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exon ...

, remaining there for 35 years. Here he worked as a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and naturalist for the king of Cochinchina, acquiring knowledge on the properties and uses of native medicinal plants. In 1777, he journeyed to

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

, in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, returning to Lisbon four years later. During this period, the Captain Thomas Riddel gave Loureiro the books ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial ...

'', '' Genera Plantarum'' and '' Philosophia Botanica'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

, which greatly influenced the Portuguese botanist. The first 40 years he stayed in Vietnam, João de Loureiro was inventorying indigenous herbal remedies. His local garden contained 1,000 unique herbal species, making him one of the greatest botanist collectors of the 18th century. João de Loureiro 1790, he published the book ''Flora Cochinchinensis'' sponsored by the Royal Portuguese Academy of Sciences. João de Loureiro has numerous species "''loureiroi''" dedicated to him, mostly plants but also the dinosaur '' Draconyx loureiroi'' in honour of his being the first Portuguese palaeontologist. The taxonomist Elmer Drew Merrill later argued that Loureiro's work contained various mistakes caused by a misunderstanding of the Linnaean system.

Standard author abbreviation

Works

*''Flora Cochinchinensis: sistens plantas in regno Cochinchina nascentes: quibus accedunt aliae observatae in Sinensi imperio, Africa orientali, Indiaeque locis variis: omnes dispositae secundum systema sexuale Linnaeanum'' * ''Flora Cochinchinensis ��denuo in Germania edita'', notes by

Carl Ludwig Willdenow Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was ...

, 1793 * « On the nature and mode of production of Agallochum or aloes-wood », translated from Portuguese into English, in ''Tracts relative to botany, tr. from different languages'',

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Phillips and Fardon �� 1805

Bibliography

* ''Pe. João de Loureiro : missionário e botânico'' by José Maria Braga, 1938.WorldCat Titles
Pe. João de Loureiro, etc.

References

18th-century Portuguese botanists Catholic clergy scientists 1717 births 1791 deaths Botanists active in Asia Botanists active in China Botanists active in India Jesuit scientists Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries Scientists from Lisbon Jesuit missionaries in China Jesuit missionaries in India Jesuit missionaries in Vietnam Portuguese expatriates in Vietnam 18th-century Portuguese Jesuits 18th-century Portuguese physicians Missionary botanists {{Portugal-botanist-stub