André Aubréville

André Aubréville (born November 30, 1897 in Pont-Saint-Vincent (Meurthe-et-Moselle) - died August 11, 1982 in Paris)[1][2] was a French botanist, professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and a member of the Academy of Sciences. He was the first scientist to introduce the term "desertification" (in his 1949 book: Climats, forêts et désertification de l'Afrique tropicale (Climates, Forests, and Desertification of Tropical Africa),[3] and wrote a number of floras of former French colonies.

André Aubréville
BornNovember 30, 1897
Pont-Saint-Vincent
DiedAugust 11, 1982(1982-08-11) (aged 84)
Paris
NationalityFrench
Alma materÉcole Polytechnique
École nationale des eaux et forêts
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
InstitutionsMuséum national d'histoire naturelle
Author abbrev. (botany)Aubrév.

Biography

Following his service (as a youth) in the First World War, André Aubréville entered the École Polytechnique (promotion 20 "special") and obtained an engineering degree in 1922. Attracted by the botany of tropical forests he then studied at the École nationale des eaux et forêts in Nancy, graduating as Ingénieur des Eaux et Forêts des Colonies (Engineer of Waters and Forests of the Colonies) in 1924. Appointed to the Côte d'Ivoire in 1925,[2] he wrote La Forêt coloniale. Les forêts de l'Afrique occidentale française in 1938 which was not only a treatise on tropical sylviculture but a tract on the politics of forestry.[2] In 1938, following this important publication, he was appointed Inspector General of waters and forests for Afrique Occidentale Francaise (A.O.F.) - French West Africa.[2]

His publications on tropical Africa are widely recognized for their comprehensive approach to the subject: which include, in addition to the scientific treatment, practical aspects such as forest management, and anthropogenic factors.[4] In parallel with his position in the Forest Services, he served as president of the Société botanique de France in 1951–1952.

in 1955, retired from his position as Inspector General, he was appointed professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in 1958, thus beginning a second career as holder of the chair of Phanerogamy following Henri Humbert. At this time, the botanical publications at the Museum were in a transition period: one of the major series had ended, the General Flora of Indochina by Paul Henri Lecomte, and human resources had been reduced.[1] None-the-less, André Aubréville wished to provide French-speaking overseas territories (colonies or former colonies) with excellent encyclopedic Floras. After ensuring the continuation of the Flora of Madagascar and the Comoros, he launched four major botanical projects. He revived the General Flora of Indochina in the form of Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam. He directed work on Flore du Gabon (Flora of Gabon) and Flore du Cameroun (Flora of Cameroun), along the lines of his previous flora of tropical Africa, and finally, he initiated another major series: Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et dépendances (Flora of New Caledonia and Dependencies), of which he wrote the first volume concerning the Sapotaceae family.[5] Work on these five large flora was later managed by his successors Jean-François Leroy and Philippe Morat, and they are still being published (in 2015).[6][7]

He was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1968.

Selected publications
  • André Aubréville, La Forêt coloniale. Les forêts de l'Afrique occidentale française, Paris, Société d'éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales, 1938
  • André Aubréville (3 vol.), Flore forestière de la Côte d'Ivoire, Paris, Larose, 1936
  • André Aubréville, Climats, forêts et désertification de l'Afrique tropicale, Paris, Société d’éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales, 1949, 351 p.
  • André Aubréville, Flore forestière soudano-guinéenne : A.O.F. - Cameroun - A.E.F, Paris, Société d’éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales, 1949, 523 p.
  • André Aubréville (dir.) et al. (35 vol.,en cours de parution), Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam : supplément à la Flore générale de l'Indochine de H. Lecomte, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, 1960
  • André Aubréville (dir.) et al. (38 vol.,en cours de parution), Flore du Gabon, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, 1961
  • André Aubréville (dir.) et al. (40 vol.,en cours de parution), Flore du Cameroun, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, 1963
  • André Aubréville (dir.) et al. (26 vol.,en cours de parution), Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et dépendances, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, 1967

Taxa honouring him

The genus Aubrevillea Pellegr.,[9] in the Fabaceae family honours Aubréville. It is composed of two species: Aubrevillea kerstingii (Harms) Pellegr. and Aubrevillea platicarpa Pellegr.

Many other species are named for André Aubréville:

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References
  1. Aymonin, G. & Aymonin, G. (1983). "André Aubréville (1897–1982)". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. Lettres Botaniques (in French). 130 (3): 257–261. doi:10.1080/01811797.1983.10824593.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. René Letouzey (1982). "A. AUBRÉVILLE (1897-1982)" (PDF). Revue forestière francaise (in French) (6). Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. Glantz, M.H.; Orlovsky, N.S. (1983). "Desertification: A review of the concept". Desertification Control Bulletin (9): 15–22. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  4. Chevalier, A. (1950). "Bibliographie". Revue internationale de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture tropicale (in French). 30 (333–334): 441–442. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  5. Aubréville, A.; et al. (1967). Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et dépendances (in French). 1:Sapotacées. Paris: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle.
  6. Flore du Gabon Scientific Publications of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
  7. Flore du Cameroun Publications of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle ISSN 0071-5875
  8. IPNI.  Aubrév.
  9. Pellegrin, F. (1933). "De quelques Légumineuses de l'Afrique occidentale". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. 80 (7): 463–467. doi:10.1080/00378941.1933.10833863. ISSN 0037-8941. pdf
  10. Candollea 26(1): 26. 1971
  11. Berichte der Schweizerischen botanischen Gesellschaft 76: 372 (1966)
  12. Bulletin du Jardin botanique national de Belgique 46(3-4): 295. 1976
  13. Pellegrin, François (1931). "De quelques plantes d'Afrique occidentale". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. 78 (4): 440–442. doi:10.1080/00378941.1931.10832906. ISSN 0037-8941. pdf
  14. Oesterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift 114: 149. 1967
  15. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 78: 683. 1932
  16. Bulletin du Jardin botanique de l'État à Bruxelles 28: 113. 1958
  17. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 81: 458. 1934
  18. World Checkl. & Bibliogr. Euphorbiaceae 4: 1470 (2000)
  19. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 81: 449. 1934
  20. Kew Bulletin 8(1): 79. 1953
  21. Kew Bulletin 8(4): 488. 1954
  22. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 94: 5. 1947
  23. Bulletin du Jardin botanique de l'État à Bruxelles 21: 444
  24. Mem. Inst. Etud. Centrafr. No. 1, 108 (1949), sine descr. lat.)
  25. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France, Mémoires 1956-1957: 44 (1958)
  26. Adansonia sér. 2, 5: 386. 1965
  27. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 91: 25. 1944
  28. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 99: 42. 1952
  29. Candollea 22(2): 231. 1967
  30. Notulae Systematicae (Paris) 16: 263. 1961
  31. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 78: 682. 1932
  32. Bulletin de la Société botanique de France 78: 441. 1931
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