Frère León (, ; December 31, 1871 – November 20, 1955) was a French-born Cuban
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 ...
Arbois
Arbois () is a Commune in France, commune in the Jura (département), Jura Departments of France, department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region, eastern France. The river Cuisance passes through the town, which centres o ...
, Jura, León was an important contributor to the botanical exploration of Cuba and co-authored, with Frère Alain, the five-volume ''Flora of Cuba'' which remains the standard reference on the topic.
Early life and education
Joseph Sylvestre Sauget was born in Arbois, Jura, in France on December 31, 1871. He obtained his secondary education in
Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
before joining the
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The De La Salle Brothers, officially named the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (; ; ) abbreviated FSC, is a Catholic Church, Catholic Laity, lay religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in Kingdom of Franc ...
and adopting the name León.
Professional life
Frère León made extensive collections of Cuban plants, culminating with the production of the ''Flora of Cuba''. He arrived in Cuba in 1905 after spending a year teaching in Canada. Working outward from his station in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Charles F. Baker, an American botanist based at the Agricultural Station at Santiago de Las Vegas. After Baker left Cuba, León corresponded extensively with
Nathaniel Lord Britton
Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859 – 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York (state), New York.
Early life
Britton was born on the 15 of January 1859 at New Dorp, Staten Island ...
at the
New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
,
grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
Mary Agnes Chase
Mary Agnes Chase (April 29 1869 – September 24 1963) was an American botanist who specialized in agrostology, the study of grasses. Although lacking formal education past elementary school, Chase was able to rise through the ranks as a botanis ...
at the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
, and fern specialist
William Ralph Maxon
William Ralph Maxon, (February 27, 1877 – February 25, 1948) was an American botanist and pteridologist. He graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Philosophy, B.Ph. in biology, in 1898, and spent about one year at Columbia Univers ...
at the
United States National Museum
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
.
León's collaborations with visiting plant collectors expanded the scope of his collections. Working with
John Adolph Shafer
John Adolph Shafer (February 23, 1863 – February 1, 1918) was an American botanist.
Life
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Shafer graduated from the Pittsburgh School, of Pharmacy in 1881 and worked as a pharmacist until after his marri ...
in 1912, León was able to expand the range of his collecting. The arrival of Swedish botanist
Erik Ekman
Erik Leonard Ekman was a Sweden, Swedish botanist and explorer. Biography
Erik Leonard Ekman was born into a low-income household with five children on October 14, 1883. Due to economic difficulties, the family moved to the central-Swedish town ...
in 1914 marked the beginning of a new phase in León's career as a botanist. Ekman, an avid plant collector, conveyed both his enthusiasm for collecting and his collecting methods to León. In 1916 León collected a grass species which was placed in a new genus, '' Saugetia'' (named in León's honour) by A. S. Hitchcock. Ekman remained in Cuba until 1924, when he left for
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
. In 1938, León hosted the visit of Canadian botanist and fellow Lasallean Brother Marie-Victorin, with whom he engaged in further explorations of Cuba. Marie-Victorin returned to Cuba every winter until his death in 1944, and throughout this period he and León continued to research the island's flora.
Initially León focused on the
grass family
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...
. He worked closely with Hitchcock as the latter prepared his ''Manual of the Grasses of the West Indies''. In the 1920s León worked with Britton and Percy Wilson to produce a checklist of the Cuban flora which laid the groundwork for his ''Flora of Cuba''. In 1928 he undertook a study of Cuban palms, which resulted in the description of several new species. His collections of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
es resulted in the publication of a catalogue of Cuban mosses in 1933. In the 1930s he focused on the
cacti
A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...
; his unfinished work on the family was incorporated into the third volume of the ''Flora of Cuba''. In 1940 he began work on the ''Flora of Cuba''. The first volume was published in 1947 and the second followed in 1951. His health and eyesight failing, León was unable to contribute further to the work, and died in 1955 before the final two volumes were completed. The work, completed by Frère Alain, remains the standard reference on the Cuban flora. León's extensive collections of Cuban plants are housed primarily at the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
Awards and honours
Frère León received honorary doctorates from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1927 and the
University of Havana
The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
in 1951. He was appointed an Officer of the National Order of Merit of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes by the government of Cuba, while the French government appointed him an Officier d'Instruction Publique in the
Ordre des Palmes Académiques
A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...