Pierre André Pourret (1754–1818) was a French

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

and

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 ...

who did research and teaching in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He described and collected large amounts of plant species, especially from the Mediterranean, and amassed many species in his

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 ...

and

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 ...

for his research. Pourret was also a pioneer user of

binomial nomenclature In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

, first developed by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

Career

Pierre André Pourret was a clergyman, but started his botanical career earlier, working in the regions around his hometown,

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

. His given parish, however, was Saint-Jacob in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. He sent manuscripts of documented research to the ''Académie des sciences, inscriptions et belles-lettres de Toulouse''. During the French Revolution in 1789, Pourret was exiled to Spain. He did botanical work in Barcelona, Madrid, and ultimately the city of

Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...

in Galicia. Due to xenophobia to the French during Napoleon's invasion of Spain, an angry mob drove Pourret out of his herbarium, burning many of his resources in the process. He lived an obscure life in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

until his death in 1818.

Legacy

His botanical collection can be found in the School of Pharmacy at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, donated by the

University of Santiago de Compostela The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC (, ) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous o ...

.Herbario Facultad de Farmacia of Complutense University of Madrid (Spanish)

Publications

* Pourret, P.A.(1781), ''Itineraire pour les Pyrénées'' * Pourret, P.A.(1783), ''Projet d'une histoire générale de la famille des Cistes'' * Pourret, P.A.(1784), ''Chloris Narbonensis'' * Pourret, P.A
''Memoire sur divers volcans ėteints de la Catalogne''
Palassou, Pierre Bernard (1823), ''Nouveaux mémoires pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des Pyrénées et des pays adjacents'', Pau: Vignancour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pourret, Pierre Andre Botanists with author abbreviations 1754 births 1818 deaths 18th-century French botanists 19th-century French botanists

Career

Legacy

Publications

See also

References

External links