Antoine Düss (August 14, 1840 – May 5, 1924) was a Swiss botanist,

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, and educator who made contributions to the study of Caribbean

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. Born in Hasle, Switzerland, he joined the Congregation du Saint-Esprit in Paris and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1871. Düss taught at educational institutions in

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, where he conducted botanical research, collecting and cataloguing plant specimens throughout the

French Antilles The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two Overseas department and region of France, overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Bass ...

. His major work, "Flore des Antilles françaises," published in 1897, documented the phanerogamic flora of the region, and he later produced catalogues of cryptogams. For his scientific contributions, he was made an Officer of the Academy in 1898, an Officer of Public Instruction in 1905, and was appointed a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

shortly before his death.

Early life

Antoine Düss was born in Hasle,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, on 14 August 1840. He graduated from the Gymnasium in Luzern and continued his studies in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

. In 1863, he entered the et du Saint-Coeur de Marie 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 ...

and became a student at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of Chevilly, near Paris. Titled variably as

Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

, Père (Father) or Reverend, he was

and made his profession on 1 October 1871. During a visit to his native Switzerland, he provided numerous services to soldiers of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

of the East who were interned in Switzerland during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

Career in the Caribbean

Düss was first sent to Martinique in 1865, where he served as a teaching supervisor at the College of Saint-Pierre for one year, and then at the Collège de Fort de France on

from 1866 to 1870. At the end of 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, he returned to France to complete his theological studies. After making his profession on 1 October 1871, he returned to Martinique at the end of that year. He then served as Prefect of Discipline at the College of Fort-de-France for four years, and in 1875, he was appointed professor of fifth form at Saint-Pierre. It was during this period that his interest in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

emerged. Though primarily responsible for teaching literature, he assisted the chemistry professor, collected terrestrial and marine shells, and cultivated a small botanical garden that provided materials for his natural history courses. He soon devoted himself to the study of

botany 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 ...

, seeking to gather all the plants of the island in his

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 ...

. He identified them with the help of works on the

of the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

contained in the library of the Botanical Garden of Saint-Pierre. His days off were spent on herborisation expeditions, which were often arduous due to the heat and dangerous because of the presence of the Fer-de-Lance, a

venomous snake ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

common in the region. In 1889, Düss returned to France for a two-year leave, the only one he would take from 1872 until his death. By this time, he had already established an important herbarium and had sent seeds and numerous specimens of dried or living plants to the Museum of Paris. During his leave, he served as a professor in

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

and frequently visited Paris to identify his collections with the assistance of the Museum's herbarium.

Move to Guadeloupe

After obtaining French citizenship in 1890, Düss returned to the College de

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; ) is a communes of the Guadeloupe department, commune in the France, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefectures in France, pref ...

at the end of 1891, where he remained until the institution closed in 1906. Upon his arrival, he spent four years collecting all the plants of Guadeloupe that he could obtain, then began writing his phanerogamic flora of the French Antilles in 1895. This was a particularly challenging task as he was far from major herbariums and scientific centres and had access to only a limited library. To verify his identifications, he consulted

Ignatz Urban Ignatz Urban (7 January 1848 – 7 January 1931) was a German botany, botanist. He is known for his contributions to the flora of the Caribbean and Brazil, and for his work as curator of the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Berlin Botanical Garden. B ...

, who was beginning his work on the flora of the Antilles.

Scientific contributions

In 1897, the "Flore des Antilles françaises" was published in the ''Annales du Musée Colonial de Marseille'', accompanied by notes from Professor Heckel on the medicinal properties of the plants. The work was well received in the Antilles, with many people subscribing to it, though the edition has long been out of print. Düss continued his herborising expeditions, planning to eventually produce a second edition of his work while also preparing a cryptogamic flora of the Antilles. To this end, he returned several times to Martinique, which he believed he had not sufficiently explored during his first stay. He joined the Société botanique de France on 22 December 1893, and on 8 May 1901, the board of directors awarded him the rarely granted title of honorary member. During 1903, Düss published several papers related to the cryptogams of Guadeloupe and Martinique, providing catalogues of vascular cryptogams,

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s, and

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

, omitting only

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, which had been studied by Mazé. He collected botanical specimens mainly on Guadeloupe and its dependencies and

, but made also collecting trips to

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

, Barbuda,

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

, and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Later life and recognition

When the College de Basse-Terre closed in 1906, Düss was appointed chaplain of the Thillac Hospice, where he remained until his death. His final years were devoted to his priestly ministry and charity work. To obtain some money to improve the conditions of the hospice residents, Düss sold his author rights to the "Flore des Antilles" to the Society of Friends of Trees, Sites and Monuments of Martinique for a modest sum. Düss received official recognition for his services to the Antilles. He was made an Officer of the Academy in 1898 and an Officer of Public Instruction in 1905. At the urging of M. Candace, deputy of Guadeloupe, he was appointed a Knight of the

by decree on 11 March 1924. This news was received with joy in Guadeloupe and Martinique, and local newspapers published laudatory articles about the new legionnaire. He received congratulations from numerous individuals, particularly the Governor of Guadeloupe and the Bishop of Basse-Terre. Two months later, on 12 May 1924, Antoine Düss died at Castel, Basse-Terre, at the age of 84, leaving unanimous regrets in the French Antilles, where his memory continues to be venerated. Père Düss was born in Hasle, Switzerland, graduated from the Gymnasium in Luzern and entered the Congregation du Saint-Esprit et du Saint-Coeur de Marie in Paris. Titled variably as Abbé, Père (Father) or Reverend, he held teaching positions at the Collége de Fort de France on Martinique and at the College de

. He collected botanical specimens mainly on Guadeloupe and its dependencies and Martinique, but made also collecting trips to

, Barbuda,

, and

. He is honoured in the naming of '' Dussiella'', which is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

within the family Clavicipitaceae, and '' Dussia'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

Sources

* Urban, Ignaz. ''Notae biographicae,'' Symb. Antill. 3:14,1900.
Detailed biography

Complete bibliography

WorldCat

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duss, Antoine Botanists with author abbreviations Bryologists Pteridologists Swiss mycologists 1840 births 1924 deaths People from Lucerne 19th-century Swiss botanists Botanists active in the Caribbean 20th-century Swiss botanists