Ethelbert Blatter (15 December 1877 – 26 May 1934) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest and pioneering botanist in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Author of five books and over sixty papers on the flora of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, he was Principal and Professor of Botany at St Xavier College,

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

and vice-president of the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publ ...

. In 1932 he became the first recipient of the Johannes Bruehl Memorial Medal of the

Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

.McCann, C. 1934. "Ethelbert Blatter, S.J." ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society,'' xxxvii(2):465-473.

Early life

Blatter was born in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Appenzell Innerrhoden Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. The seat of the government and parliament is Appenzell. It is ...

in northeastern

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in a region near Mount

Säntis At above sea level, Säntis is the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland. It is also the culminating point of the whole Appenzell Alps, between Lake Walen and Lake Constance. Shared by three cantons, the mountain ...

. Having lost his father at an early age, he was raised by an uncle, a popular doctor in the municipality of

Rebstein Rebstein is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal (Wahlkreis), Rheintal in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rebstein is first me ...

in the neighboring

Canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen or St Gall ( ; ; ; ) is a canton of Switzerland. Its capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of (5% of Switzerland) and a resident population close to half a million as of ...

. The young Blatter lived in his uncle's home, a castle overlooking Rebstein and located in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

valley just before the river's union with

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

(Bodensee). After finishing elementary education in Rebstein, Blatter attended middle school in

Sarnen Sarnen is a small List of towns in Switzerland, historic town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores of Lake Sarnen () in Switzerland. It has a population of just ov ...

, the capital of the

Canton of Obwalden Canton of Obwalden or Obwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditio ...

, in

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. His classmates at Sarnen remembered him as not only brilliant in every subject, but also a high-spirited companion with a reputation for pranks. After Sarnen, Blatter went on to have a brilliant career in high school in

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

, capital of the

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, northeast of the canton of Obwalden. In October 1896, after finishing high school, Blatter moved to the border town of Feldkirch,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

to join the Noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus. Since German Jesuits were in exile under Bismarck, Blatter moved to the Netherlands in 1898 to first pursue classical studies and then study philosophy in the college of

Valkenburg aan de Geul Valkenburg aan de Geul (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the southeastern Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. The name refers to the central town in the municipality, ...

in the southernmost province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. Around this time, he also developed an interest in botany and attended many scientific conferences in

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India I

In 1903, Blatter moved to India and was appointed Professor of Botany at St Xavier's College Bombay. The following year, he joined the

(BNHS) and began to contribute articles, the first of which was "The Fauna and Flora of Our Metallic Money," an article which (somewhat humorously) catalogued the microorganisms commonly found on various coins in India. In pursuit of his researches, Blatter traveled extensively within India. His most important contributions from this time were a series of articles written between 1904 and 1909 (although published later) and titled, ''The Palms of

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, Indigenous and Introduced''. The articles were subsequently published in book form by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Theological studies in Europe

Returning to Europe in 1909, Blatter chose to complete his theological studies in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

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, where exiled Jesuits from two French provinces had opened a school of theology. During this time, Blatter also spent much time researching and compiling his papers, ''Flora of Aden'', at the Royal Botanic Gardens in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

. Ordained as a priest on 25 August 1912, Blatter spent another year in the Netherlands, before returning to London to compile data for his next effort, ''Flora Arabica''. Still in London when Great War broke out, Blatter booked his passage to India on a Japanese boat. Despite facing rifle fire from Turkish soldiers in the Suez Canal, the ship's journey was mostly uneventful, and Blatter arrived in Bombay in October 1915.

India II

Returning to his position as professor of botany at St Xavier's, Blatter expended great energy during the next few years both traveling and building an extensive botanical collection. Consequently, St. Xavier's College had one of the best herbaria in Western India during those years. He was appointed principal of the college in 1919, retaining his professorial chair until 1924. He also became a prominent member of Bombay University Senate, and played a major role in influencing later university reforms. In 1925 Blatter retired to

Panchgani Panchgani, called Paachgani, is a hill station and municipal council in Satara district in Maharashtra, India. Panchgani attracts tourists throughout the year. It is also known for having many convent boarding schools. Panchgani is around 108 ...

as parish priest, and began to focus more on his botanical studies. His series of papers with W.S. Millard titled, ''Some Beautiful Indian Trees'' were published around this time. These papers too resulted in a book of the same name, a classic, still in print. Other books pertaining to India from this time were the two-volume ''Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir'' (1927, 1928); ''The Flora of the Indus Delta'' (with

Charles McCann Yule Mervyn Charles McCann (4 December 1899 – 29 November 1980) was a natural history, naturalist in India and New Zealand. He wrote a popular book on the trees of India and edited a major regional flora apart from publishing many of his othe ...

and T. S. Sabnis, 1929); and ''The Ferns of Bombay'' (with J. F. D'Almeida, 1932).Blatter, E. and J. F. D'Almeida. 1932. ''The Ferns of Bombay.'' D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay. pp. vii, 228, 15 plates. The following year he was elected vice-president of BNHS. In 1930, during an expedition to

Waziristan Waziristan (Persian language, Persian, Pashto, Ormuri, , ) is a mountainous region of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Waziristan region administratively splits among three districts: North Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan Dis ...

, a political agency in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

of British India,"Waziristan, North" and "Waziristan, South." 1908. In ''

Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

'', vol 24, pp. 379-384. Blatter had a bad fall from a horse, and the resulting injuries brought on a partial paralysis. From that point onwards, his health began to fail. In 1932. in recognition of his botanical work, Fr. Blatter received the first Johannes Bruehl Memorial Medal of the

for "Conspicuous Important contributions to the knowledge of Asiatic Botany." Fr. Ethelbert Blatter died on 26 May 1934 at St. Vincent's High School,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Selected publications

References

External links

The Ferns of Bombay (scanned book)

Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir. Volume 1 (1927)Volume 2 (1928)

Blatter, E; Charles McCann (1935) Bombay grasses. ICAR, Delhi.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blatter, Ethelbert 1877 births 1934 deaths 19th-century Swiss botanists Swiss Jesuits Naturalists from British India Catholic clergy scientists Jesuit scientists People from Appenzell Innerrhoden 20th-century Swiss botanists Members of the Bombay Natural History Society