Léon Joseph Henry Humblot (3 June 1852 in Nancy – 20 March 1914) was a French

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 ...

and botanical collector.Historical Dictionary of the Comoro Islands
by Martin Ottenheimer, Harriet Ottenheimer He worked as a gardener for 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 ...

in Paris, then in 1878 embarked on a research trip to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, where he set up an experimental garden and collected

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 ...

species. In 1884 he entered the

Comoros Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte be ...

as part of a geographical survey conducted by the natural history museum. In 1885 he procured the signature of a treaty with the Sultan of Bambao, thus establishing a basis for a "Grande Comore protectorate". During the following year, the French had overall rule of the Comoros (

Grande Comore Grande Comore (; ) is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which i ...

Anjouan Anjouan () is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is known in Comorian languages, Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentie ...

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

and Moheli islands).JSTOR Global Plants
Humblot, Léon (1852–1914) On the island of Grande Comore, Humblot founded a colonial company that oversaw the operations of several farms, plantations and processing factories for spices and perfumes. From 1889 to 1896, he held the title of '' Résident'', being forced to relinquish the status in 1896 due to charges of corruption by the French government. While stationed in the Comoros, he collected botanical specimens that were sent to naturalist

Alfred Grandidier Alfred Grandidier (20 December 1836 – 13 September 1921) was a French natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. From a very wealthy family, at the age of 20, he and his brother, Ernest Grandidier (1833–1912), undertook a ...

(1836–1921). The

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in

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 ...

also received numerous items from Humblot (including 1300

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

specimens). During his career, Humblot also collected

ornithological Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

entomological Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the ...

specimens. The botanical genera '' Humblotia'', ''Humblotiella'' and ''Humblotiodendron'' commemorate his name. In addition, Humblot's heron,

Humblot's flycatcher Humblot's flycatcher (''Humblotia flavirostris'') or the Grand Comore flycatcher, is a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. It is the only member of its genus. Humblot's flycatcher is endemic to the island of Grand ...

, and Humblot's sunbird are named after him.

Publications associated with Léon Humblot

* "66 phot. des Comores, de Nossi-Bé et de Madagascar, avec des portraits de Said Ali, sultan de la Grande Comore, et de ses ministres, de son frére Mohammed Ali, d'un autre frére, Mohammed Sidi, du général en chef, du premier ministre, de la femme légitime, de princesses de la Grande Comore, de Léon Humblot, résident français dans cette île, du prince Said Omar de Mayotte. Phot. par Léon Humblot, don Alphonse Milne-Edwards en 1885", (with

Alphonse Milne-Edwards Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist, ornithologist, and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who ...

) – 66 photographs, the Comoros, Nossi-Bé and

, etc. * "La vie et les activités de Léon Humblot à la Grande Comores, 1884–1915" (2010); author Nasfati Mze Ahamada; Sudel Fuma; Université de la Réunion. Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines.WorldCat Title
La vie et les activités de Léon Humblot à la Grande Comores

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humblot, Leon 1852 births 1914 deaths French naturalists 19th-century French botanists Scientists from Nancy, France 20th-century French botanists