Julien Noël Costantin (16 August 1857 – 17 November 1936) 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

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

who was a native of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He studied at

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

on the Rue d'Ulm. In 1881 he received his license in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and two years later earned his doctorate. In 1883 he was appointed adjunct professor at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, and through influence from Philippe Van Tieghem (1839-1914), became an assistant

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

at the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

shortly afterwards. In 1887 Costantin became a lecturer of botany at Ecole Normale Superieure. In 1901 he succeeded Marie Maxime Cornu (1843-1901) as chair of

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

at the museum of natural history. Along with these duties, he taught classes at the École nationale d’horticulture in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and at the École supérieure coloniale in

Nogent-sur-Marne Nogent-sur-Marne () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Nogent-sur-Marne is a ''Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture'' of the Val-de-Marne ''Depar ...

. In 1912 he became a member of 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 ...

. Costantin defended Lamarckian evolution until his death in 1936.Loison, Laurent. (2011). ''French Roots of French Neo-Lamarckisms, 1879-1985''. ''

Journal of the History of Biology The ''Journal of the History of Biology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of biology as well as philosophical and social issues confronting biology. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the edito ...

'' 44 (4): 713-744.

Publications

* ''Atlas en couleurs des orchidées cultivées'' (E. Orlhac, Paris) – Color atlas of cultivated

orchids 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 Earth ...

. * ''Les Mucédinées simples. Histoire, classification, culture et rôle des champignons inférieurs dans les maladies des végétaux et des animaux'' (P. Klincksieck, Paris, 1888). * ''Nouvelle flore des champignons, pour la détermination facile de toutes les espèces de France et de la plupart des espèces européennes'' (P. Dupont, Paris, 1891, re-edited in 1895, 1904, 1967 et 1997) — In the series of "''Nouvelle Flore''" by

Gaston Bonnier Gaston Eugène Marie Bonnier (; 9 April 1853 – 2 January 1922) was a French botanist and plant ecologist. Biography Bonnier first studied at École Normale Supérieure in Paris from 1873 to 1876. Together with Charles Flahault, he studied ...

(1851-1922) and Georges de Layens (1834-1897). * ''Atlas des champignons comestibles et vénéneux'' (P. Dupont, Paris, 1895) – Atlas of edible and

poisonous mushroom Mushroom poisoning is poisoning resulting from the ingestion of mushrooms that contain toxic substances. Symptoms can vary from slight gastrointestinal discomfort to death in about 10 days. Mushroom toxins are secondary metabolites produced by th ...

s. * ''Petite flore des champignons comestibles et vénéneux, pour la détermination rapide des principales espèces de France'' (P. Dupont, Paris, 1895). with Léon Jean Marie Dufour (1862-1942), * ''Les végétaux et les milieux cosmiques'' (F. Alcan, Paris, 1898). * ''Le Mythe du chêne marin'' (E. Leroux, Paris, 1899). * ''La nature tropicale'' ( F. Alcan, Paris, 1899). * ''L'Hérédité acquise, ses conséquences horticoles, agricoles et médicales'' (Durand,

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

, 1901) – Acquired heredity, its horticultural, agricultural and medical consequences. * ''Le transformisme appliqué à l'agriculture'' (F. Alcan, Paris, 1906) – Transformism applied to agriculture. * ''La Vie des orchidées'' (Flammarion, Paris, 1917). * ''Éléments de botanique'' with Philippe Van Tieghem (1839-1914) ( Masson, Paris, 1918). * ''Atlas des orchidées cultivées'' (Paris, 1927) – Atlas of cultivated orchids.

References

* Philippe Jaussaud & Édouard R. Brygoo, ''Du Jardin au Muséum en 516 biographies'', Muséum national d’histoire naturelle de Paris, 2004, 630 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Costantin, Julien Noel 1857 births 1936 deaths 19th-century French botanists French mycologists Lamarckism Members of the French Academy of Sciences Scientists from Paris 20th-century French botanists