Abbott Jean Michel Gandoger (10 May 1850–4 October 1926), was a French botanist and mycologist.. Gandoger was born in Arnas

Arnas

Arnas is a commune of the Rhône department in eastern France....

, the son of a wealthy vineyard owner in the Beaujolais

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made mostly with Chardonnay grapes...

 region. Although he took holy orders at the age of 26, he devoted his life to the study of botany

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...

, specializing in the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Rosa

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

. He travelled throughout the Mediterranean region, notably 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...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, and Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, amassing a herbarium of over 800,000 specimens, now kept at the Faculty of Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

. However, he is notorious for having published thousands of plant species that are no longer accepted. Gandoger died at Arnas in 1926.

Father J B Charbonnel published an obituary in the Bulletin de la Societe botanique de France (1927, Vol. 74, 3-11), which lists Gandoger's many publications.
NB: Gandoger was originally known by the abbreviation Gdgr.

Publications

• Flore lyonnaise et des départements du sud-est, comprenant l'analyse des plantes spontanées et des plantes cultivées comme industrielles ou ornementales (1875)
• Revue du genre Polygonum (1882)
• Flora europaea (1883-1891, 27 volumes)
• Herborisations dans les Pyrénées (1884)
• Monographie mondiale des Crucifères (3 volumes)