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Matthieu Bonafous

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Matthieu Bonafous
Matthieu Bonafous in 1857
BornMarch 7, 1793
DiedMarch 23, 1852
OccupationBotanist

Matthieu Bonafous (7 March 1793 – 22 March 1852) was a French botanist born in Lyon.[1]

Early life

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Matthieu Bonafous was born on March 7, 1793, in Lyon, France.[2]

Career

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Bonafous wrote Histoire Naturelle, Agricole et Économique du Mäis, a monograph about maize, in 1836.[2][3] In it, he showed that corn was able to adapt to hostile weather conditions.[4] For example, it could grow in sand (as in New Jersey), in humid climate (like Colombia) or in cold weather (like the Apennine Mountains).[4]

He also wrote about mulberry trees and their use for raising silkworms in De la culture des Mûriers (1822) and Traité de l'éducation des Vers à Soie et de la culture du Mûrier (1840).[5]

The plant Bonafousia was named after him.[6]

Death

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He died on March 23, 1852.[2]

Other works

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  • Bonafous, M. (1833). Traité du maïs, ou, Histoire naturelle et agricole de cette céréale. Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d'Agriculture.
  • Bonafous, M. (1822). De la culture des mûriers. J.M. Barret.

References

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  1. ^ Cap, Paul-Antoine (1857). Etude biographique pour servir à l'histoire des sciences. Masson. pp. 361–406. (in French)
  2. ^ a b c Christie's: MATHIEU BONAFOUS (1793–1852)
  3. ^ Matthieu Bonafous (1836), Histoire naturelle, agricole et économique du maïs, Madame Huzard/Biblioteca Digital, Real Jardín Botánico CSIC
  4. ^ a b Betty Harper Fussell, The Story of Corn, Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1992, p. 92 [1]
  5. ^ Stafleu, F.A.; Cowan, R.S. (1976–1988). Taxonomic literature: A selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types. Second Edition. Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema and Holkema; Available online through Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
  6. ^ CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology, CRC Press, 1999, Volume 1, p. 324 [2]
  7. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Bonaf.