Charles Telfair

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Charles Edward Telfair (* 1778 (according to other sources 1777 ) in Belfast , Northern Ireland , † July 14, 1833 in Port Louis , Mauritius ) was an Irish-British doctor and botanist , later in Mauritius. Its botanical author abbreviation is " Telfair ".

Life

Charles Telfair was born in Belfast to a school teacher. He first studied chemistry with Joseph Black and then medicine. In 1797 he enlisted as an officer in the Royal Navy and in 1810 came to Réunion and Mauritius as a ship's doctor . After initially working in various colonial offices on Réunion, he became the personal secretary of Governor Robert Farquhar in Mauritius. In 1815 he was one of the four negotiators responsible for overseeing the return of Réunion to France. In 1818 Charles Telfair married Annabella Chamberlain († 1832), who was also a botanist and draftsman.

Together with his wife, who illustrated Telfair's collections, he collected numerous plant and algae material and sent it to William Jackson Hooker in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. From 1825 to 1829 Telfair chaired the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden near Port Louis.

On August 11, 1829, the Société d'Histoire naturelle de l'île Maurice was founded in Telfair's residence in Bois-Chéri near Moka , and in 1847 it became the Société royale des Arts et des Sciences de l'île Maurice (or at the behest of Queen Victoria in Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius ). In addition to Julien Desjardins , Jacques Delisse and Wenceslas Bojer , 25 other scientists were among the founding members. On August 24, 1829 the board election took place, in which Charles Telfair was elected the first president of this society.

Honors

William Jackson Hooker named the plant genus Telfairia , Julien Desjardins named the Telfair skink and William Charles Linnaeus Martin named the little hedgehog in honor of Charles Telfair. In 1819 he was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his services in returning Réunion to France . In 2007 the Charles Telfair Institute was opened in Quatre Bornes . The Souillac Botanical Garden in Mauritius also bears his name.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ray Desmond, Christine Ellwood: Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists: including plant collectors, flower painters, and garden designers . CRC Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-85066-843-8
  2. ↑ James Britten, George Simonds Boulger: A Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists . West, Newman & Co., 1893
  3. ↑ Sylvanus Urban: The Gentleman's Magazine And Historical Chronicle From January to June, 1818. Volume LXXXVIII. Nichols, Son, and Bently, London. 1818.
  4. ^ Yvan Martial: La Société Royale fête ses 175 ans d'existence. In: L'Express, Mauritius, October 18, 2004. Online
  5. ^ Center for Mauritian Studies: Journal of Mauritian studies . Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, Mauritius. 2006.

literature

  • Ray Desmond, Christine Ellwood: Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists: including plant collectors, flower painters, and garden designers . CRC Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-85066-843-8

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Telfair, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Telfair, Charles Edward (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish-Mauritian botanist and physician
DATE OF BIRTH 1777 or 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast , Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1833
Place of death Port Louis , Mauritius