André Thouin

André Thouin (10 February 1747 – 24 October 1824) was a French botanist.

André Thouin

Thouin studied botany under Bernard de Jussieu, and in 1793 attained the chair of horticulture at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. He was a good friend of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, and the godfather of Jean Baptiste Lamarck's son Andre.

He is remembered for contributions made in the field of agronomy, including scientific studies that involved improved grafting techniques and seed selection. He played an important role in the reshaping of Natural History in France during the revolution.^[1] He was a pioneer conservationist, stressing the importance of replacing woodlands to compensate for their destruction due to human encroachment.

The plant genre, Thouinia (family Sapindaceae, 1804) from Central and South America,^[2][3] and Thouinidium (family Sapindaceae, 1878) from Mexico and Central America,^[4] are both named after him.^[5]

As a taxonomist, he described at least 15 new species.^[6] Most have been degraded to synonyms.^[7]

Thouin supervised Elisabeth Julienne Pommereul in her work at the Jardin du Roi.^[8]

Selected publications

• Description de l'École d'agriculture pratique du Muséum d'histoire naturelle, (1814).
• Manuel d'arboriculture. Manuel illustré de la culture, de la taille et de la greffe des arbres fruitiers.
• Monographie des greffes, ou Description technique des diverses sortes de greffes employées pour la multiplication des végétaux, (1821).
• Traite des arbres forestiers :ou histoire et description des arbres indigenes ou naturalises... /par M. Jaume Saint-Hilaire. Ouvrage precede d'une instruction sur la culture des arbres, (1824).
• Cours de culture et de naturalisation des végétaux, (1827).

References

1. Heintzman, Kit (2018). "A cabinet of the ordinary: domesticating veterinary education, 1766–1799". The British Journal for the History of Science. 51 (2): 239–260. doi:10.1017/S0007087418000274. PMID 29665887. S2CID 4947361.
2. BHL Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications
3. "Thinouia Planch. & Triana | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
4. "Thouinidium Radlk. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
5. Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. S2CID 187926901. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
6. IPNI Plant names published by Thouin
7. "Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
8. Benharrech, Sarah (June 2018). "Botanical Palimpsests, or Erasure of Women in Science: The Case Study of Mme Dugage de Pommereul (1733–1782)". Harvard Papers in Botany. 23 (1): 89–108. doi:10.3100/hpib.v23iss1.2018.n11. ISSN 1043-4534. S2CID 165916314.
9. International Plant Names Index.  Thouin.

External links

• Works by André Thouin at Biodiversity Heritage Library