Charles Antoine Lemaire (1 November 1800, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

– 22 June 1871, in Paris), was a French botanist and botanical author, noted for his publications on Cactaceae.

Education

Born the son of Antoine Charles Lemaire and Marie Jeanne Davio, he had an excellent early education, and acquired the reputation of being an outstanding scholar. He studied at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

and was appointed as Professor of

Classical Literature Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

there. At some stage his botanical interest was sparked and developed by his association with M. Neumann, horticulturist at the Museum of Natural History.

Career

He worked for some time as an assistant to M. Mathieu, at a nursery in Paris, building up a collection of Cactaceae, a group to which he would devote almost all of his life. In 1835, M. Cousin, a Parisian publisher, started a gardening journal and requested that he be its editor. For a number of years, he remained editor of ''Jardin Fleuriste'' and ''L'Horticulteur Universel'', contributing greatly to the content. During this period his principal artist was

Jean-Christophe Heyland Jean-Christophe Heyland aka Jean-Christophe Kumpfler (1791 Frankfurt – 29 August 1866 Genoa), was a Swiss engraver, watercolourist, and illustrator, who produced the plates for many botanical works such as the 1825-27 ''Plantes Rares du Jardin d ...

(1792-1866). In 1845 Lemaire moved to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

as editor of the journal '' Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe'', started by Louis van Houtte. In 1854 he turned to editing ''L'Illustration Horticole'', also in Ghent and owned by

Ambroise Verschaffelt Ambroise Colette Alexandre Verschaffelt (11 December 1825 – 16 May 1886) was a distinguished Belgian horticulturist and author. His grandfather Pierre-Antoine (1764–1844) was amongst the founders of the "Floralies gantoises" in 1808. His ...

, and stayed there until 1870 when he returned to Paris where he died in June 1871. In addition to his enormous contributions to the journals he edited, Lemaire also published numerous papers on the ''Cactaceae'' and succulents. Some of these are ''Cactearum aliquot novarum'' (1838); ''Cactearum genera nova speciesque novae'' (1839); ''Iconographie descriptive des Cactées'' (1841–1847); and ''Les plantes grasses'' (1869). One of the notable genera he named was '' Schlumbergera'' which contains the well-known Christmas Cactus. He never published a major work on the Cactaceae, despite having collected all the material and a wealth of experience. He always lived in semi-poverty and never attracted the attention of a wealthy sponsor.

Édouard André Édouard François André (17 July 1840 – 25 October 1911) was a French horticulturalist, landscape designer, as well as a leading landscape architect of the late 19th century, famous for designing city parks and public spaces in Lithu ...

(1840–1911), who succeeded him as editor of ''L'Illustration Horticole'', felt that "Posterity will esteem M. Lemaire more highly than did his contemporaries."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Charles Antoine Botanists with author abbreviations French botanical writers 1800 births 1871 deaths French male non-fiction writers