Luis Née

Luis Née (July 12, 1735 – October 3, 1807) was a French-born Spanish botanist and prolific collector of plant specimens who accompanied the Malaspina Expedition on its five-year scientific exploration of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands. In addition to his botanical work he was a pharmacist with a keen interest in medicinal plants and their applications.

Early life Little is known about Née's early life. He was born just outside Paris, in Le Perray-en-Yvelines, to a working-class family. He had only a basic education but from an early age exhibited an interest in botany and collecting plants. He eventually moved to Spain and later became a Spanish citizen.

By 1772 Née was working for the pharmacy at the Monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Espina and collecting plants in the mountains of Santander and Asturias. In addition to collecting preserved specimens for the herbarium, Née gathered live plants which he then grew in his personal gardens. His proficiency as a gardener won him a royal commission in 1784 to create a new botanic garden in Pamplona.

Malaspina expedition In 1788 Alessandro Malaspina, an officer in the Spanish Navy, petitioned the Spanish government to support a scientific expedition that would visit nearly all the Spanish possessions in the Americas and Asia. King Charles III, a promoter of science in the Spanish Empire, approved the venture which came to be known as the Malaspina Expedition. Malaspina planned to include three naturalists on his scientific team. He first hired Antonio Pineda and Thaddeus Haenke. Pineda was designated the lead naturalist and at his recommendation, Luis Née was proposed to fill the third spot. On February 4, 1789 King Charles IV officially appointed Née as a botanist on the expedition.