Wenceslas Bojer (also Václav Bojer in Czech or Wenzel Bojer in German) (23 September 1795 in Řesanice, Bohemia, now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

– 4 June 1856 in

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's e ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

) was a Czech naturalist, botanist and botanical illustrator.

Life

he was born to Simon Bojer and Barbara Staub.

Career

From 1813 till 1820 Bojer worked at the Imperial Museum Vienna. As a young man he was sent on expeditions to Africa and Mauritius by

Franz Sieber Franz Wilhelm Sieber (30 March 1789 – 17 December 1844), was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia. Early life Franz Sieber was born in Prague, Bohemia on 30 March 1789. After 5&nb ...

. In 1821 he arrived at Mauritius. In 1822 the Mauritian governor Robert Townsend Farquhar sent him to Madagascar. He was accompanied by Malagasy Prince Rafaria who studied on Mauritius and James Hastie, a Scottish corporal and British envoy for King Radama I on

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Bojer explored the west coast of Madagascar before he arrived in

Tananarive Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

. In 1824 Bojer was sent to Africa as an interpreter. He explored several coasts of the African continent and collected a huge amount of minerals and plants. In 1829 he was one of the co-founders of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences (SRAS) at Mauritius. He died of paralysis in 1856. Many

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of plants and animals (especially from Madagascar and the

Mascarenes The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

) were named after Bojer, including '' Gongylomorphus bojerii'' (Bojer's skink),Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Bojer", p. 31). '' Dionycha bojerii, Ploceus bojeri'' (golden palm weaver), '' Uapaca bojeri, Streptocarpus bojeri, Epilobium bojeri'', and many more.

References

Bibliography

WorldCat

External links

* (French) *

Bojer W. 1837. ''Hortus Mauritianus: ou énumération des plantes, exotiques et indigènes, qui croissent a l'Ile Maurice, disposées d'après la méthode naturelle.'' at the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Czech botanists Botanical illustrators Mauritian scientists 1795 births 1856 deaths British Mauritius people People from Plzeň-South District {{CzechRepublic-botanist-stub