Martín Sessé y Lacasta
Martín Sessé y Lacasta , (born December 11, 1751 in Baraguás , Spain , † October 4, 1808 in Madrid , Spain) was a Spanish botanist who was the first to thoroughly research the flora of Mexico . Its botanical author abbreviation is " Sessé ".
Life
Martín Sessé studied medicine at the University of Zaragoza ; when he did not get a teaching position there in 1775, he went to Madrid as a general practitioner, where he made first contacts with those responsible for the Botanical Garden.
In 1779 he worked in the military hospital during the siege of Gibraltar (1779–1783) . In 1780 he moved to America and initially worked as a military doctor for the garrison of Cuba . He later went to Mexico and settled in Mexico City .
Since Sessé continued to deal with botany and remained in correspondence with the leading botanists in Spain, Viceroy Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo appointed him in 1785 to commission a new botanical garden to be established in Mexico City. He gave up his medical post and devoted himself entirely to botany. So he asked seeds and pupils from Spain and asked about the best measures against diseases. From 1787 Vicente Cervantes supported him in his work.
At his insistence and thanks to the viceroy's support and the Spanish professor Casimiro Gómez Ortega , King Charles III. finally an expedition through New Spain, the aim of which was to explore and categorize the flora of Mexico. Sessé was entrusted with the organization and management of the expedition.
Preparations for the expedition began in 1788, in addition to Sessé, José Longinos Martínez (1756–1802) and José Mariano Mociño (1757–1820) and José Maldonado were among the scientists who were supposed to explore the flora of New Spain. After long and extensive preparations, the first excursions started in 1791, initially in the core area of the viceroyalty. Later further separate trips followed until 1802: Longinos traveled to California , the coast of Guatemala and Yucatán ; he died in Campeche in 1803 . Mociño drove north up the Pacific coast to Oregon and Alaska . Sessé himself took on Cuba, the island of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico .
In 1803 Sessé returned to Spain; In his luggage he had about thirty boxes with material from his travels, in them there were 1,500 plants, half of which were still unknown to European botanists. In addition, there were previously unknown birds and fish. Sessé set out with Mociño to prepare his results for publication; Before it was published, however, he died in 1808.
The research results of the great expedition were only published at the end of the 19th century.
Honors
After him, the plant genera Sessea Ruiz & Pav. And Sesseopsis Hassl. named from the nightshade family (Solanaceae).
Web links
- Biography (spanish)
- Biography (spanish)
- Short biography (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sessé y Lacasta, Martín |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish botanist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 11, 1751 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baraguás , Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 4, 1808 |
| Place of death | Madrid , Spain |