Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel (27 March 1776 – 12 September 1854) 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 ...

and politician. He was a founder of the science of plant

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

. A native Parisian, at the age of twenty, he became an assistant-naturalist with the French

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

. While there he began to examine plant tissue under a microscope. In 1802, Mirbel published his treatise ''Traité d'anatomie et de physiologie végétale'' which established his position as a founder of

, plant

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

and

plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...

in France. He proposed that all plant tissue is modified from

parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...

(supporting tissue). His observation, in 1809, that each plant cell is contained in a continuous membrane, remains a central contribution to cytology. In 1803, Mirbel obtained the post of superintendent of the gardens of Napoleon's Château de Malmaison. There he studied and published on structure of plant tissue and the development of plant organs. He also studied and described the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Marchantia ''Marchantia'' is a genus of liverworts in the family Marchantiaceae and the order Marchantiales. The genus was named by French botanist Jean Marchant after his father. The thallus of ''Marchantia'' shows differentiation into two layers: an ...

'' of

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s. His 1802 treatise and these publications enabled him, in 1808, to join 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 ...

and to become the chair of the botany department of the Sorbonne. His combined tissue studies were published in 1815 as ''Eléments de physiologie végétale et de botanique''. With the Bourbon Restoration, Mirbel's friend

Élie, duc Decazes Élie, 1st Duke of Decazes and Glücksbierg (born Élie Louis Decazes; 28 September 178024 October 1860) was a French politician, statesman, leader of the Liberalism, liberal ''Doctrinaires'' party during the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbo ...

, then Minister of Interior, offered him the post of Secretary General. But the fall of the government in 1829, marked the end of Mirbel's political career, and he returned to a position with the National Museum of Natural History as head of 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 ...

'' in Paris, and eventually became the Director of Culture (chaire de culture) for the museum. Mirbel was elected a foreign member of the British

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London in 1837. In 1823, Mirbel married Lizinska Aimée Zoé Rue, a French painter of miniatures. He died in Champerret, France in 1854. The plant

Mirbelia ''Mirbelia'' is a plant genus belonging to the family (biology), family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia, occurring in every mainland state except South Australia. Plants in the genus ''Mirbelia'' are prickly, Perennial plant, perennial shr ...

'' and the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

Dendrobium mirbelianum ''Dendrobium mirbelianum'', commonly known as the dark-stemmed antler orchid or mangrove orchid, is an Epiphyte, epiphytic or Lithophyte, lithophytic orchid in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It has cylindrical, dark-coloured pseudobu ...

'' are named in his honor.

Selected works

* * ''Traité d'anatomie et de physiologie végétale'', 1802 * ''Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière de plantes'', 1802–1806 * ''Exposition de la théorie de l'organisation végétale'', 1809 * ''Éléments de physiologie végétale et de botanique'', 1815

References

* Gillispie, Charles Coulston (ed.) (1970) "Mirbel, Charles Francois Brisseau De (1776–1854)" ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography: Volumes I-XIV'' Charles Scribner's Sons, New York; {{DEFAULTSORT:Brisseau de Mirbel Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century French botanists Academic staff of the University of Paris Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society 1776 births 1854 deaths