Aimé Bonpland
Encyclopedia
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (29 August 1773 – 4 May 1858) was a French
explorer and botanist
.
Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle
, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon
in the French army, and studying under J. N. Corvisart at Paris
, he accompanied Alexander von Humboldt
during five years of travel in Mexico
, Colombia
and the districts bordering on the Orinoco
and Amazon
rivers. In these explorations he collected and classified about 60 000 plant
s that were, until then, mostly unknown in Europe
. He later described his finds in Plantes equinoxiales (Paris, 1808-1816). A semi-fictional account of these travels is to be found in Daniel Kehlmann
's Die Vermessung der Welt (also published in English as Measuring the World
: A Novel, translated by Carol Brown Janeway).
On returning to Paris he received a pension and the superintendence of the gardens at Malmaison
, and published Monographie des Melastomes (1806), and Description des plantes rares cultivées à Malmaison et à Navarre (1813). In 1816 he set out, taking with him various European plants, for Buenos Aires
, where he was elected professor of natural history, an office which he soon left in order to explore central South America
. In 1820 Bonpland established a plantation near the Paraná, but its success annoyed the dictator of Paraguay, who had Bonpland put in prison by command of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
, the dictator of Paraguay
, who detained him until 1831.
On regaining liberty he resided at San Borga in the province of Corrientes
, Argentina
until his removal in 1853 to Santa Ana, in Misiones, today a small town called "Bonpland" in his honor, close to Restauracion where he died. While living in Missiones he had income as a yerba mate
farmer and merchant.
Bonpland Street in the ritzy Buenos Aires
neighborhood of Palermo Hollywood lies among streets named after Charles Darwin
, Robert FitzRoy
and Alexander von Humboldt
. Many animals and plants are also named in his honor, including the squid Grimalditeuthis bonplandi
and the orchid Ornithocephalus bonplandi.
The lunar crater Bonpland
is named after him. Also Pico Bonpland
in the Venezuelan Andes
is named to his honor, although he never visited the Venezuelan Andes
. A peak of over 2300m in New Zealand also bears his name. The mountain is near the head of Lake Wakatipu in the South Island.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
explorer and botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
.
Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
in the French army, and studying under J. N. Corvisart at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, he accompanied Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
during five years of travel in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and the districts bordering on the Orinoco
Orinoco
The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...
and Amazon
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
rivers. In these explorations he collected and classified about 60 000 plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s that were, until then, mostly unknown in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He later described his finds in Plantes equinoxiales (Paris, 1808-1816). A semi-fictional account of these travels is to be found in Daniel Kehlmann
Daniel Kehlmann
Daniel Kehlmann is a German language author of both Austrian and German nationality. His work Die Vermessung der Welt is the best selling novel in the German language since Patrick Süskind's Perfume was released in 1985...
's Die Vermessung der Welt (also published in English as Measuring the World
Measuring the World
Measuring the World is a 2005 novel by German author Daniel Kehlmann. The novel re-imagines the lives of German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss and German geographer Alexander von Humboldt – who was accompanied on his journeys by Aimé Bonpland – and their many groundbreaking ways of...
: A Novel, translated by Carol Brown Janeway).
On returning to Paris he received a pension and the superintendence of the gardens at Malmaison
Château de Malmaison
The Château de Malmaison is a country house in the city of Rueil-Malmaison about 12 km from Paris.It was formerly the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, and with the Tuileries, was from 1800 to 1802 the headquarters of the French government.-History:Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the...
, and published Monographie des Melastomes (1806), and Description des plantes rares cultivées à Malmaison et à Navarre (1813). In 1816 he set out, taking with him various European plants, for Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he was elected professor of natural history, an office which he soon left in order to explore central South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. In 1820 Bonpland established a plantation near the Paraná, but its success annoyed the dictator of Paraguay, who had Bonpland put in prison by command of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
200px|right|thumb|José Gaspar Rodríguez de FranciaDr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco was the first leader of Paraguay following its independence from Spain...
, the dictator of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, who detained him until 1831.
On regaining liberty he resided at San Borga in the province of Corrientes
Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
until his removal in 1853 to Santa Ana, in Misiones, today a small town called "Bonpland" in his honor, close to Restauracion where he died. While living in Missiones he had income as a yerba mate
Yerba mate
Maté, yerba maté or erva maté , Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...
farmer and merchant.
Bonpland Street in the ritzy Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
neighborhood of Palermo Hollywood lies among streets named after Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, Robert FitzRoy
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
and Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
. Many animals and plants are also named in his honor, including the squid Grimalditeuthis bonplandi
Grimalditeuthis bonplandi
Grimalditeuthis bonplandi is a squid named after the Grimaldi family, reigning house of Monaco. His Serene Highness Prince Albert I of Monaco was an amateur teuthologist who pioneered the study of deep sea squids by collecting the 'precious regurgitations' of Sperm Whales.-External links:*...
and the orchid Ornithocephalus bonplandi.
The lunar crater Bonpland
Bonpland (crater)
Bonpland is the remains of a lunar crater that is attached to the walled plain Fra Mauro to the north and Parry to the east. The intersection of their rims forms a three-pointed mountainous rise. To the southeast is the small crater Tolansky...
is named after him. Also Pico Bonpland
Pico Bonpland
Pico Bonpland is Venezuela's third highest peak, at 4,883 metres above sea level. It is located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the Venezuelan Andes of . The peak with its sister peak Pico Humboldt, and the surrounding páramos are protected by the Sierra Nevada National Park. It shares with the...
in the Venezuelan Andes
Sierra Nevada de Mérida
The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes...
is named to his honor, although he never visited the Venezuelan Andes
Sierra Nevada de Mérida
The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes...
. A peak of over 2300m in New Zealand also bears his name. The mountain is near the head of Lake Wakatipu in the South Island.