Jacques Labillardière
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse
La Perouse
La Perouse may refer to* Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a French naval officer and explorer,and the following places which were named after him:* La Perouse, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney...
expedition. He published a popular account of his journey and produced the first Flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
on the region.
Early life
Jacques Labillardière was born in AlençonAlençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France
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...
on 28 October 1755. The 9th of 14 children of a lace merchant, he was born into a devoutly Roman Catholic family of modest means.
The surname Labillardière originated with Labillardière's grandfather, Jacques Houtou, who, in an affectation of nobility, appended the name of the family's estate, La Billardière, after his surname. Labillardière was thus baptised under the surname Houtou de Labillardière, but he later dropped the patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
, retaining only Labillardière in both his publications and his signature.
As a child, he attended the Collège royal d'Alençon, where he excelled in his studies. Around 1772, he matriculated to the University of Montpellier
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
, studying medicine under Antoine Gouan
Antoine Gouan
Antoine Gouan was a French naturalist who was a native of Montpellier. Gouan was a pioneer of Linnaean taxonomy in France....
. He did not graduate from Montpellier, instead transferring to the Reims University
Reims University
Reims University was one of the largest and most important universities in Europe during the Middle Ages. It was established in 1548 by papal bull, but shut down in 1793, during the French Revolution....
around 1774. After graduating in 1779, he moved to 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...
, where he spend much his time at the Jardin du Roi. Having decided to pursue his interest in natural history, rather than a medical career, he took up an opportunity to collect specimens for Louis Guillaume Le Monnier.
Early voyages
Labillardière undertook his first voyage as a naturalist in 1783. Sent to BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
by Le Monnier to study the exotic plants in cultivation there, he ended up staying almost two years, during which time he established enduring friendships with Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
, James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
, Aylmer Bourke Lambert
Aylmer Bourke Lambert
Aylmer Bourke Lambert was a British botanist, one of the first fellows of the Linnean Society.He is best known for his work A description of the genus Pinus, issued in several parts 1803-1824, a sumptuously illustrated folio volume detailing all of the conifers then known...
and George Williams
George Williams
-Politicians:*George Williams , British army officer and Liberal politician*George Henry Williams , United States Attorney General and a United States senator from Oregon...
. On returning from Britain, Lab. immediately set out on a voyage through the French Alps
French Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
.
Near East
Labillardière's early voyages seem to have fired in him a passion for exploring foreign lands, for on his return to Paris he immediately began making plans for a voyage to the Near EastNear East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, in order to study the plants described by physicians of the Islamic Golden Age
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
. He again secured Le Monnier's sponsorship, and Le Monnier in turn sucured the support of France's foreign minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes was a French statesman and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, notably during the American War of Independence....
, rendering Labillardière's voyage virtually an official mission. Labillardière left paris in November 1786, and departed France via Marseilles in February 1787. He travelled first to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, then on to Latakia
Latakia
Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. From there he moved south along the coast as far as Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
before turning inland to Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, via the Mount Carmel Range. From Nazareth he headed north to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, visiting Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...
en route. He then crossed the Mount Lebanon Range. arriving in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
in late June. After a detour to Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
to see the Cedars of Lebanon, he returned north along the coast, departing from Latakia in November.
The following year, Labillardière made another voyage to the eastern Mediterranean. Little is known of this voyage, except that he made landfall at Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
and Lampedusa
Lampedusa
Lampedusa is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about ...
.
The result of these two voyages was a collection of around 1000 specimens. As sponsor of the expedition, these were due to Le Monnier, but Labillardière retained a great many duplicate specimens. The voyage also resulting in Labillardière's botanical account of the region, later published as Icones plantarum Syriae rariorum. Only 55 taxa were published in it, but according to Duyker "this was sufficient to secure for him a place among the founders of modern botany in the Near and Middle East."
Australia
In 1791 Labillardière was appointed as a naturalist to Bruni d'EntrecasteauxBruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
's expedition to Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
in search of the lost ships of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
. D'Entrecasteaux failed to find any trace of the missing expedition, but his ships visited southwest Australia, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
, where Labillardière, Claude Riche
Claude Riche
Claude-Antoine-Gaspard Riche was a naturalist on Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's 1791 expedition in search of the lost ships of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.Cape Riche, on the south coast of Australia, is named in his honour.-Early Life:...
, Étienne Pierre Ventenat
Étienne Pierre Ventenat
Étienne Pierre Ventenat was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat ....
assisted by gardener Félix Delahaye
Félix Delahaye
Félix Delahaye Félix's surname is variously presented as de Lahaie, Delahaie, de Lahaye, de La Haye, and Lahaie. was a French gardener who served on the Bruni d'Entrecasteaux voyage that was sent by the French National Assembly to search for the missing explorer Jean-François La Perouse.Delahaye...
collected zoological, botanical and geological specimens, and described the customs and languages of the local Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
.
While the expedition was exploring Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
had broken out in Europe, and when the ships reached Java Labillardière's scientific collections were seized by the British as spoils of war. Labillardière despaired at the loss of three years' painstaking work, but he had an ally in Joseph Banks, who campaigned for the return of the collections. In 1796 his lobbying succeeded, and he was able to write to William Price at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
:
... his Majesty's Ministers have thought it necessary for the honour of the British nation and for the advancement of Science that the right of the Captors to the Collection should be on this occasion wav'd and that the whole should be returned to M. de Billardiere, in order that he may be able to publish his Observations on Natural History in a complete manner ... By this her Majesty will lose an acquisition to her herbarium, which I very much wish'd to see deposited there, but the national character of Great Britain will certainly gain much credit for holding a conduct towards Science and Scientific men liberal in the highest degree.
Labillardière returned to France with his collections in 1796. In 1799 he published a popular account of his voyage, Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse
Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse
Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse is a book , issued in 1800, that gives an account of the 1791-1793 d'Entrecasteaux expedition to Australasia. The title refers to the search for La Pérouse, who disappeared in the region in 1788, a popular, though unsuccessful, object of the mission...
, and was elected to the Académie des sciences. Between 1804 and 1807 he published Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen is a two volume work describing the flora of Australia. The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillardière, who visited the region in 1792 with the d'Entrecasteaux expedition...
, the first general description of the flora of Australia. In 1816, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
.
Character
Labillardière had an abrasive, critical personality: even his eulogist described him as "sharp and austere", and a man who tended to "hide everything that was good in his soul behind a caustic and bitter intellect." He was also extremely stubborn: Denis and Maisie Carr describe him as having "the stubborn, almost pigheaded, independent mentality of the peasants near Alençon." On the other hand, he was highly regarded for his sincerity and generosity. Augustin Saint-HilaireAugustin Saint-Hilaire
Augustin François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire , French botanist and traveler, was born at Orléans, France, on 4 October 1779. He began to publish memoirs on botanical subjects at an early age...
, for example, writes that Labillardière "could perceive someone's slightest defect; yet he would have been ready to open his purse for the same man whose ridiculousness had not escaped him, and would have done all in his power to help him."
It has been said that Labillardière was scrupulously honest, especially with money, yet he has also been criticised for failing to acknowledge the work of others, such as his unattributed use of specimens collected by L'Héritier
Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle
Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle was an 18th century French botanist and magistrate. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of Superindent of Parisian Waters and Forests at the age of twenty-six...
.
Nothing is known of his physique, but his travels as a naturalist reveal him to be a man of good physical fitness, with a strong constitution and immense stamina. Intellectually, he is shown to be not just an outstanding botanist and naturalist with excellent observational skills, but also to be possessed of considerable linguistic abilities, including an impeccable grasp of Latin.
Politically he was a staunch republican.
Legacy
Labillardière is commemorated in over a hundred published plant names, the most prestigious of which is the Australian endemic genus BillardieraBillardiera
Billardiera is a genus of small vines and shrubs which is endemic to Australia. The genus was first formally described in 1793 by botanist James Edward Smith who named it in honour of Jacques Labillardière, a French botanist.Species include:...
, named in Labillardière honour by James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
in 1793. In 1978 the Irish botanist Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson is a botanist who specialises in the Proteaceae family, especially the Adenanthos genus; and the Ericaceae, especially Erica. He is the author of over 20 books and more than 150 research papers...
published Adenanthos labillardierei
Adenanthos labillardierei
Adenanthos labillardierei is a species of erect shrub endemic to the slopes of the Barren Ranges in the Fitzgerald River National Park in southwest Western Australia.-Description:It grows as an erect shrub, usually less than m in height...
with the specific epithet "in recognition of Labillardière's contribution to the knowledge of this genus, and Australian botany." A small number of animal species have been named in his honour also, namely the Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) and the Red-legged Skink (Ctenotus labillardieri). His name is further honoured in Labillardiere Peninsula and Point Labillardiere on Bruny Island, and by Cape Labillardiere on Fergusson Island
Fergusson Island
Fergusson Island is the largest island of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, in Papua New Guinea. It has an area of just over 500 square miles , and mostly consists of mountainous regions, covered by rain forests...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
His herbarium is now part of the Museo di Botanica at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze
Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze
The Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze is a natural history museum in 6 major collections, located in Florence, Italy. It is part of the University of Florence...
, University of Florence
University of Florence
The University of Florence is a higher study institute in Florence, central Italy. One of the largest and oldest universities in the country, it consists of 12 faculties...
. About fifty of the plant genera established by Labillardière survive as current genera today.
Amongst the notable plants detailed in the author's two works on Australia are the first descriptions of Cephalotus follicularis and Eucalyptus cornuta
Eucalyptus cornuta
Eucalyptus cornuta, commonly known as Yate, is a tree which occurs in an area between Busselton and Albany in Western Australia....
.
The standard author abbreviation Labill. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing
Author citation (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, author citation refers to citing the person who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
a botanical name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
.
Historiography
Only two portraits of Labillardière survive: an 1821 lithograph of a sketch by Julien Leopold Boilly, and a lithograph by Langlumè based on a portrait by Alexis Nicolas Noël.The first biography of Labillardière was written by Jean Pierre Flourens
Jean Pierre Flourens
Marie Jean Pierre Flourens , father of Gustave Flourens, was a French physiologist, the founder of experimental brain science and a pioneer in anesthesia....
, whose graveside eulogy
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
of Labillardière was published in the Annales du Museum d'histoire in 1837. This first biography was very highly regarded, and seems to have formed the basis of most of the entries in French biographical dictionaries published over the next century; and also of the anonymous biography in Volume 2 of the Australian Dictionary of Biography
Australian Dictionary of Biography
The Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
.
New insights into Labillardière's life and work did not being to appear until the 1953 publication, by Auguste Chevalier, of new information on Labillardière's early life, together with a number of his letters. More letters were published in Gavin de Beer
Gavin de Beer
Sir Gavin Rylands de Beer FRS was a British evolutionary embryologist. He was Director of the British Museum , President of the Linnean Society, and received the Royal Society's Darwin Medal for his studies on evolution.-Biography:...
's 1960 The sciences were never at war, and further biographical material was published by Frans Stafleu
Frans Stafleu
Frans Antonie Stafleu was a Dutch systematic botanist, former Chair of the Institute of Systematic Botany at the University of Utrecht, and author of Taxonomic Literature: A Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections, with Dates, Commentaries, and Types along with 644 other...
in 1967, and by Denis and Maisie Carr in 1976 and 1981. The first book-length treatment of Labillardière's life appeared in 2003 with the publication of Edward Duyker
Edward Duyker
Edward Duyker is an Australian historian and author born in Melbourne, Victoria, to a father from the Netherlands and a mother from Mauritius...
's award-winning Citizen Labillardière: A naturalist's life in revolution and exploration (1755–1834).
A major thread in the historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
of Labillardière is questions surrounding the reliability of his work. There are anomalies and contradictions in both Labillardière's account of his voyage and in his botanical data. The former appear to be at least partly attributable to mistakes made in converting the measurements and dates in his journal into the metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
and Republican Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
respectively. In the latter case, the anomalies mostly concern the collection locations of his specimens, about which he was apparently quite careless. Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson is a botanist who specialises in the Proteaceae family, especially the Adenanthos genus; and the Ericaceae, especially Erica. He is the author of over 20 books and more than 150 research papers...
in particular did much to shed doubt upon Labillardière's reliability, and over time a tradition arose amongst botanists that Labillardière's data was not to be trusted. Labillardière's reputation has since been somewhat restored by the Carrs, who in 1976 published a detailed validation of Labillardière's account of his visit to Observatory Island, where Eucalyptus cornuta
Eucalyptus cornuta
Eucalyptus cornuta, commonly known as Yate, is a tree which occurs in an area between Busselton and Albany in Western Australia....
(Yate) was first collected.
One of the greatest challenges for biographers of Labillardière has been the gaining of insight into his character and personality. This is largely due to the paucity of documents and testimonies: fewer than sixty of his letters survive, and many of these are purely related to business matters. Since he clearly had an austere personality, Duyker speculates that "the lack of surviving personal detail may in itself be a reflection of a strongly defensive character."
External links
- Citizen Labillardière
- Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the 1800 English translation on Internet Archive.