Jean-Marie Pelt (24 October 1933 – 23 December 2015) was a French
biologist,
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
pharmacist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...
with degrees in both biology and pharmacy.
He was professor at the
University of Lorraine, specializing in medicinal plants and traditional pharmacopeia, and is the author of several scientific articles and books on pharmaceutical plants, plant biology and
urban ecology.
Pelt was known to the French public as the producer of several television series and radio broadcasts on plant biology and ecology. He has been nicknamed the ''
Konrad Lorenz of the vegetable world''.
Scientific works
Through his academic career, Pelt studied the science of medicinal plants,
phytopharmacology,
phytotherapy, and
phytotoxicology. He specifically focused on the repertories of drugs and medicinal plants of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, and
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
.
Institutional roles
In addition to his research work at the university of
Nancy and more recently the
University of Lorraine, Pelt founded the
European Institute of Ecology in 1972 and co-founded the French Society of Ethnopharmacology in 1987 and the Committee of Independent Research and Information on the
Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...
in 1999. Along with
Simone Veil,
Jacques Delors or
Corinne Lepage, Pelt was a fellow member of the Committee 21, the French deliberative assembly for the environment and sustainable development which is in charge of implementing the
Agenda 21 action plan.
Urban ecology concepts and applications
As municipal councilor of
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
between 1971 and 1983, Pelt pioneered a policy of
urban ecology.
[Pelt J.M. (1977) ''L'Homme re-naturé.'' Eds. Seuil. ] Because of the failure in
post-war
A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...
urban planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
and
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
s occurring in Europe during the 1960s, and gathering inspiration from the concepts of
CIAM, Professor Pelt initiated a new approach towards the urban environment. He developed his ideas on this topic in ''The Re-Naturalized Human'', a pioneering book from 1977 which was awarded the European Prize of Ecology.
Based on the ideas of the
Chicago School, Pelt's theories advocated for a better integration of humans into their environment and developed a concept concerning the relation between "stones and waters".
His ideas were materialized in Metz with the establishment of extensive open areas surrounding the
Moselle and the
Seille rivers and the development of large areas for walking. He died on 23 December 2015.
Bibliography
* The medications () (1969), Ed. Le Seuil.
* Evolution and sexuality in plants () (1970), Eds. Horizons de France .
* The re-naturalized Human () (1977), Eds. Le Seuil. - European Prize of Ecology
* Plants: loves and vegetable civilizations () (1980), Eds. Fayard. ASIN B005P797 km
* Medicine by the plants () (1981,1986), Eds. Fayard
* The tremendous adventure of the plants () (1981), Eds. Fayard
* Drugs and magic plants () (1971,1980), (1983), Eds. Fayard
* Drugs, their history, their effects () (1983), Eds. Fayard
* The social life of the plants () (1984), Eds. Fayard
* My most beautiful stories about plants () (1986), Eds. Le Seuil
* Flowers, celebrations, and seasons () (1986), Eds. Fayard
* The pedestrian of Metz () with Christian Legay (1988), Eds. Serpenoise
* Around the work of an ecologist () (1990), Eds. Fayard
* At the back of my garden () (1992), Eds. Fayard
* The child of the possible () (1992), Eds. Albin Michel
* Vegetables () (1993), Eds. Fayard
* The plants' world () (1993), collection Petit Point, Eds. Seuil
* A lesson of nature () (1993), Eds. l'Esprit du temps
* Fruits () (1994), Eds. Fayard
* Universe's God, science and faith () (1995), Eds. Fayard
* Words of nature () (1995), Eds. Albin Michel
* The secrete languages of the nature () (1996), Eds. Fayard
* From the universe to the Being () (1996), Eds. Fayard
* The plants in danger () (1997), Eds. Fayard
* The soul's garden () (1998), Eds. Fayard
* The most beautiful story about plants () with M. Mazoyer,
Théodore Monod, and J. Giradon (1999), Eds. Le Seuil
* The cinnamon and the panda () (1999), Eds. Fayard
* The Earth in inheritance () (2000), Eds. Fayard
* Variation on celebrations and seasons () (2000), Eds. Le Pommier
* Listening the trees () (2000), Eds. Albin Michel
* The life is my garden () (2000), Eds. Alice, Belgique
* The new natural remedies () (2001), Eds. Fayard
* Spices () (2002), Eds. Fayard
* The future straight in the eyes () (2002), Eds. Fayard
* The law of the jungle () with Franck Steffan (2003), Eds. Fayard
* Solidarity in plants, animals, and humans () (2004), Eds. Fayard
* Virtues of the plants (), pictures of
Peter Lippmann (2004), Eds. Chêne
* Around the world of an ecologist, once again () (2005), Eds. Fayard
* Those plants we are eating () (2006), Eds. Chêne
* After us, the Deluge? () with
Gilles-Éric Séralini (2006), Eds. Flammarion/Fayard
* Ecology and spirituality () collective work (2006), Eds. Albin Michel
* It's green and it's walking () with Franck Steffan (2007), Eds. Fayard
* Beauty of flowers and decorative plants () (2007), Eds. Chêne
* Nature and spirituality () (2008), Eds. Fayard
* ''Le monde s'est-il créé tout seul ?'' with
Albert Jacquard,
Trinh Xuan Thuan,
Ilya Prigogine, and
Joël De Rosnay (2008), Eds. Albin Michel
* The reason of the weakest () with Franck Steffan (2009), Eds. Fayard
* Little story of plants: the diary of a committed botanist () (2009), Eds. Carnets Nord
* The precious gifts of the nature () (2010), Eds. Fayard
* The paths of happiness () (2010), Eds. de la Martinière
* Evolution as seen by a botanist () (2011), Eds. Fayard
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelt, Jean-Marie
20th-century French botanists
French environmentalists
1933 births
2015 deaths
French pharmacologists
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Academic staff of the University of Lorraine
University of Lorraine alumni
People from Moselle (department)
21st-century French botanists