Anselm Riedle

Antonio González: Tabebuia heterophylla, Puerto Rico (from Baudin's diary).

Anselm Riedle, French Anselme Riedlé (* 1765 , Irsee , Allgäu ; † October 21, 1801 , Kupang , West Timor ) was a German gardener and botanist . He was first assistant at the Paris Jardin des Plantes and took part in the research trips of Nicolas Baudin (1754-1803) to the Antilles (1796-1798) and to Australia (1800-1804). In the course of the latter expedition he died of an infectious disease in the Dutch East Indies.

Career

Since Augsburg is also given as his place of origin , Riedle was possibly in the service of the last Elector of Trier Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony (1739-1812), who was also the last Prince-Bishop of Augsburg . In his residence in Koblenz he could have specialized in the care of exotic plants and after the French conquest of Koblenz in the First Coalition War (1794) he moved to Paris. The colonial power France opened the door to the world for landlocked countries. The Jardin des Plantes is affiliated with the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle , founded in 1793 and directed by the botanist Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu (1748–1836). It was Jussieu who helped Riedle to participate in Baudin's scientific endeavors.

Antilles (1796–1798)

The team of the Antilles expedition carried out research on Tenerife (November 1796 – March 1797), in the Danish West Indies (April – July 1797) and on Puerto Rico (July 1797 – April 1798). There was “republican unity” between Baudin and Riedle, the botanist André-Pierre Ledru (1761–1825) and the zoologist René Maugé (1757–1802), whom Riedle knew from the Jardin des Plantes . In his report on the expedition, Ledru tells how he used the saber to pave a path through the jungle in Puerto Rico , through which Baudin, Riedle and Maugé carried a tree fern . When Riedle fell ill, Baudin took care of him. On the way, the Flûte La Belle Angélique (The Beautiful Angelica) had to be replaced by two other ships one after the other. In order to bring the rich harvest of the researchers to France, Baudin converted the three-master Le Triomphe . The team was in the cargo hold to the water barrels banished so that the steerage 270 plants crates record could. Trees over 1.5 meters high were lowered to the bottom of the cargo hatches . The main deck was given skylights that could be sealed with tarred tarpaulin . From the seaport ( Fécamp ), Riedle had to accompany the plants on a smaller ship to the gate of the Muséum d'histoire naturelle in Paris. When the predecessor organization of the French Agricultural Academy awarded Riedle a medal two years later , it described the harvest it had brought back to France as follows:

913 kinds of seeds , fruits and capsules in sufficient quantity to be able to distribute them in 50 gardens of central schools of the republic .
231 wood samples.
About 1200 dried plants, with their fruiting over 2000 patterns.
794 living plants of 307 species, belonging to 141 genera, of which 67 were missing from the national collection and ten were apparently unknown. In contrast, of the 20 consignments that the Muséum d'histoire naturelle had received from the colonies up to that point, only a few contained a small number of living plants.

Australia, West Timor (1800/01)

On the Australian expedition, Riedle and his assistants Antoine Sautier († 1801) and Antoine Guichenot (1783–1867) belonged to the crew of the corvette Le Géographe, commanded by Baudin . On this and her sister ship Le Naturaliste (The Natural Scientist) initially 22 researchers drove along. At the first stage destination Tenerife, where Riedle had already injured himself in 1796, he fell 15 meters while collecting plants and spent a quarter of a year in great pain in bed. On the Île de France ( Mauritius ), however, he was drawn to the mountains again. In two months he collected 255 species of plants, exchanged trees with the director of the Jardin du Roi in Pamplemousses , Jean-Nicolas Céré (1738–1810), and distributed seeds of European vegetables and flowers to the planters. On the Île de France, several researchers shied away from the impending journey into the unknown and left the expedition team, including the botanists André Michaux (1746–1802) and Jacques Delisse (1773–1856) and two gardeners.

The sparse vegetation of Shark Bay ( François Péron National Park ) in Western Australia .

After crossing the Indian Ocean, Riedle botanized in two bays in Western Australia ( Geographe Bay , Shark Bay ) and during the subsequent stay in Kupang (West Timor), a base of the Batavian Republic . He observed that the Aborigines of New Holland , whom the French kept their distance from for safety reasons, used juniper bark to cover their huts, to wear when it was cold, and to sleep on . He writes about Western Australia: “In my life I have not seen a drier, more barren land; not a drop of potable water, little or no vegetation , of reefs and shoals lined inaccessible coasts "Quite different Timor. At the harbor bread trees , mango , tamarind , Betelnuss- and coconut trees , horseradish trees , Sophora, in the fields of rice, corn, yams , Tobacco ...

death

Monument that Baudin Riedle had erected in Kupang (from Baudin's diary).

But the tropical paradise was to be Riedle's undoing. The above information comes from a letter he wrote to the botanist André Thouin (1747–1824) from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle at the end of September 1801 . In it he also mentions suffering from bloody diarrhea . Three weeks later he was dead. One of his last worries is said to have been that a ficus macrophylla would be brought alive into the Jardin des Plantes , which then happened. Baudin had Riedle pay military honors and erect a memorial. Bedded next to him was the botanist David Nelson (around 1740–1789), who after the mutiny on the Bounty had accompanied the commander William Bligh in the launch of the ship from Pitcairn to Kupang 5800 kilometers away and died there of exhaustion. According to Baudin's travel diary, the inscription on the monument read:

“This is where Anselm Riedle from Augsburg rests, thirty-five years old, chief gardener of the expedition ordered by the First Consul Bonaparte in IX (1800/01). His zeal, his diligence, his work were the cause of his death on the 29th Vendémiaire year X (October 21st, 1801). Whoever you are honors his grave and the memorial, which is said to convey his name to posterity and that of David Nelson, who accompanied William Bligh. "

Since the botanist Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour (1773-1826), who was also sick, had to stay behind in Kupang and Sautier died soon afterwards at sea, Baudin was only Guichenot for the subsequent exploration of Southeast Australia of eight botanists. On Maria Island (now a national park) near Tasmania , which Baudin went to next after the death of his friend, there is a Riedle Bay.

literature

References and comments

↑ Premier garçon jardinier de l'École botanique du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.
^ André-Pierre Ledru: Voyage aux iles de Ténériffe, La Trinité, Saint-Thomas, Sainte-Croix et Porto-Ricco, exécuté par ordre du gouvernement français, de septembre 1796 à juin 1798, sous la direction du capitaine Baudin (...) ouvrage accompagné de notes et d'additions, par M. (Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert) Sonnini (...) Volume 2, Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1810 ( digitized version ), p. 55 f.
^ Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel (Paris), September 9, 1800, p. 1422 f. ( Digitized version ); see. Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 312 ff.
^ André-Pierre Ledru: Voyage aux iles de Ténériffe, La Trinité, Saint-Thomas, Sainte-Croix et Porto-Ricco, exécuté par ordre du gouvernement français, de septembre 1796 à juin 1798, sous la direction du capitaine Baudin (...) ouvrage accompagné de notes et d'additions, par M. (Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert) Sonnini (...) Volume 2, Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1810 ( digitized ), 46 f., 278–290.
^ Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 35.
^ Académie d'agriculture de France (since 1915).
^ Écoles centrales de la République, institutions existing from 1795 to 1802 in the 83 departments of France created in 1790 .
^ Notice sur la distribution de médailles d'encouragement, faite par la Société, dans sa séance publique du 20 messidor an VIII (September 9, 1800). In: Mémoires d'agriculture, d'économie rurale et domestique, publiés par la Société d'agriculture du département de la Seine (...), Volume 2, Madame Huzard, Paris Year 9 (1800/01), pp. 48–65 , here: pp. 58–62 ( digitized version ).
^ Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris- Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 97.
^ La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique (Paris), February 19, 1802, p. 323 f. ( Digitized version ): Riedle to Unknown, Île de France , April 20, 1801; see. Jacqueline Bonnemains et al. (Ed.): Mon voyage aux Terres Australes. Journal personnel du commandant Baudin. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-7433-0384-0 , p. 128 f.
^ La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique (Paris), July 9, 1802, pp. 82-87: Riedle to André Thouin , Timor , September 28, 1801 ( digitized version ).
^ Joseph-Philippe-François Deleuze : Histoire et description du Muséum royal d'histoire naturelle. A. Royer, Paris 1823 ( digitized version ), p. 291. How the tree, which is native to Eastern Australia, got to Timor is not known.
↑ Jacqueline Bonnemains et al. (Ed.): Mon voyage aux Terres Australes. Journal personnel du commandant Baudin. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-7433-0384-0 , p. 391 f. (the last two sentences left out).

personal data
SURNAME	Riedle, Anselm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Riedlé, Anselme
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German gardener
DATE OF BIRTH	1765
PLACE OF BIRTH	Irsee
DATE OF DEATH	October 21, 1801
Place of death	Kupang

[1] Premier garçon jardinier de l'École botanique du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.

[2] André-Pierre Ledru: Voyage aux iles de Ténériffe, La Trinité, Saint-Thomas, Sainte-Croix et Porto-Ricco, exécuté par ordre du gouvernement français, de septembre 1796 à juin 1798, sous la direction du capitaine Baudin (...) ouvrage accompagné de notes et d'additions, par M. (Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert) Sonnini (...) Volume 2, Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1810 ( digitized version ), p. 55 f.

[3] Gazette nationale ou Le Moniteur universel (Paris), September 9, 1800, p. 1422 f. ( Digitized version ); see. Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 312 ff.

[4] André-Pierre Ledru: Voyage aux iles de Ténériffe, La Trinité, Saint-Thomas, Sainte-Croix et Porto-Ricco, exécuté par ordre du gouvernement français, de septembre 1796 à juin 1798, sous la direction du capitaine Baudin (...) ouvrage accompagné de notes et d'additions, par M. (Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert) Sonnini (...) Volume 2, Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1810 ( digitized ), 46 f., 278–290.

[5] Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 35.

[6] Académie d'agriculture de France (since 1915).

[7] Écoles centrales de la République, institutions existing from 1795 to 1802 in the 83 departments of France created in 1790 .

[8] Notice sur la distribution de médailles d'encouragement, faite par la Société, dans sa séance publique du 20 messidor an VIII (September 9, 1800). In: Mémoires d'agriculture, d'économie rurale et domestique, publiés par la Société d'agriculture du département de la Seine (...), Volume 2, Madame Huzard, Paris Year 9 (1800/01), pp. 48–65 , here: pp. 58–62 ( digitized version ).

[9] Nicolas Baudin: Journal du voyage aux Antilles de La Belle Angélique (1796-1798). Edited by Michel Jangoux, Presses de l'Université Paris- Sorbonne / Académie royale de Belgique 2009, ISBN 978-2-84050-665-2 , p. 97.

[10] La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique (Paris), February 19, 1802, p. 323 f. ( Digitized version ): Riedle to Unknown, Île de France , April 20, 1801; see. Jacqueline Bonnemains et al. (Ed.): Mon voyage aux Terres Australes. Journal personnel du commandant Baudin. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-7433-0384-0 , p. 128 f.

[11] La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique (Paris), July 9, 1802, pp. 82-87: Riedle to André Thouin , Timor , September 28, 1801 ( digitized version ).

[12] Joseph-Philippe-François Deleuze : Histoire et description du Muséum royal d'histoire naturelle. A. Royer, Paris 1823 ( digitized version ), p. 291. How the tree, which is native to Eastern Australia, got to Timor is not known.

[13] Jacqueline Bonnemains et al. (Ed.): Mon voyage aux Terres Australes. Journal personnel du commandant Baudin. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-7433-0384-0 , p. 391 f. (the last two sentences left out).