André Aubréville

André Aubréville (30 November 1897, in Pont-Saint-Vincent (Meurthe-et-Moselle) – 11 August 1982, in Paris) 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), and wrote a number of floras of former French colonies.

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, 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 Jean-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. 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).

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

Many other species are named for André Aubréville:

Araliaceae Polyscias aubrevillei (Bernardi) Bernardi (basionym : Sciadopanax aubrevillei Bernardi) Chrysobalanaceae Maranthes aubrevillei (Pellegr.) Prance ex F.White (basionym : Parinari aubrevillei Pellegr.) Crassulaceae Kalanchoe aubrevillei Raym.-Hamet ex Cufod. Euphorbiaceae Bridelia aubrevillei Pellegr. Croton aubrevillei J.Léonard Drypetes aubrevillei Leandri Shirakiopsis aubrevillei (Leandri) Esser (basionym: Sapium aubrevillei Leandri) Flacourtiaceae Homalium aubrevillei Keay Fabaceae Mimosoideae Newtonia aubrevillei (Pellegr.) Keay (basionym: Piptadenia aubrevillei Pellegr.) Dialium aubrevillei Pellegr. (replacement name for Cynometra aubrevillei Pellegr. Meliaceae Swietenia aubrevilleana Stehlé & Cusin Orchidaceae Bulbophyllum aubrevillei Bosser Santalaceae Okoubaka aubrevillei Pellegr. & Normand Sapotaceae Manilkara aubrevillei Sillans Pouteria aubrevillei Bernardi Synsepalum aubrevillei (Pellegr.) Aubrév. & Pellegr. (basionym : Sideroxylon aubrevillei Pellegr. ) Sterculiaceae Pterygota aubrevillei Pellegr.