Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan (29 October 1814 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

– 7 February 1897 in Lyon) was a French

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

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

Life and work

Jordan was in Lyons where his father César was from a wealthy business family and his mother Jeanne-Marie (Adèle) Caquet d’Avaize had a lawyer father. The mathematician

Camille Jordan Marie Ennemond Camille Jordan (; 5 January 1838 – 22 January 1922) was a French mathematician, known both for his foundational work in group theory and for his influential ''Cours d'analyse''. Biography Jordan was born in Lyon and educated at ...

and the namesake politician were cousins. He chose to study

natural history 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 ...

rather than become a businessman. From 1836 to 1877 he traveled widely throughout France, collecting many botanical specimens on trips to the Massif Central, the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

as well as on excursions to locations near Lyon. As a member of the Linnaean Society of Lyon, he came under the influence of several local naturalists, including Marc Antoine Timeroy, an amateur botanist who would have a profound impact upon his career. At Jordan's extensive

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

in Lyon, with his assistant Joseph Victor Viviand-Morel, he cultivated many thousands of different varieties of plants.JSTOR Global Plants
(biography of Alexis Jordan) Known for his micro-morphological analysis of plants — as a taxonomist he proposed a narrow conceptualization for the determination of species. Because of this, he was widely criticized for his tendency to differentiate species too finely. In regards to the 1,685 species that he named, Johannes Paulus Lotsy referred to them as "Jordanianas", while Georges Coutagne called them "Jordanias". In a September 15, 1874 issue of Revue des deux Mondes,

Jules Émile Planchon Jules Émile Planchon (21 March 1823 – 1 April 1888) was a French botanist born in Ganges, Hérault. He was a brother of Gustave Planchon who also studied medicinal plants. Biography After receiving his Doctorate of Science at the Universit ...

published an article regarding Jordan's narrow division of species, titled "''Le morcellement de l'espèce en botanique et le Jordanisme''" (The fragmentation of botanical species and "Jordanism"). During his lifetime, he created one of the largest

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 ...

s known to exist, as he acquired exsiccatae series from around 200 other botanists. In 1849 the plant genus ''Jordania'' was named in his honor by

Pierre Edmond Boissier Pierre Edmond Boissier (25 May 1810 Geneva – 25 September 1885 Valeyres-sous-Rances) was a Swiss prominent botanist, explorer and mathematician. He was the son of Jacques Boissier (1784-1857) and Caroline Butini (1786-1836), daughter of Pierr ...

and

Theodor von Heldreich Theodor Heinrich Hermann von Heldreich (3 March 1822 – 7 September 1902) was a German botanist born in Dresden. In 1851, he settled in Greece for the rest of his life. He carried out botanical experiments in the country. He published thirtee ...

. He also has several species named after him; ''Rosa jordani'' ( Désègl.) and ''Viola jordani'' ( Hanry) being a couple of examples.

In literature

Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan served as a prototype for the hero of the comedy by Azerbaijani writer

Mirza Fatali Akhundov Mirza Fatali Akhundov, also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Iranian Azerbaijanis, Iranian AzerbaijaniThe story of Monsieur Jourdan, a botanist and the dervish Mastalishah, a famous sorcerer".

Selected writings

* ''Observations sur plusiers Plantes nouvelles, rares ou critiques de la France'', 1846. (Considered to be Jordan's magnum opus). * "Pugillus plantarum novarum præsertim gallicarum", 1852. * ''De l'origine des diverses variétés ou espèces d'arbres fruitiers'', 1853. * ''Diagnoses d'espèces nouvelles ou méconnues'', 1864. * "Icones ad floram Europae novo fundamento instaurandam spectantes", Paris : F. Savy (with Jules Pierre Fourreau) 1866-1868. * ''Catalogue de la bibliothèque botanique du feu Alexis Jordan (Lyon 1814-97) dont la vente aura lieu à Paris les 4. - 9. mai 1903'', (1903).Google Search
(publications)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Claude Thomas Alexis 1814 births 1897 deaths Scientists from Lyon 19th-century French botanists