Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois

Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, baron de Beauvois is a Naturaliste French, born the July 27th 1752 with Arras and dead the January 21st 1820 with Paris.

It makes studies of Droit and becomes lawyer at the Parliament of Paris in 1772 then receiver-general of the fields and wood. It then decides to be devoted to the Natural history and mainly to the Botanique. It follows the courses of Bernard de Jussieu (1699-1777) and is named corresponding Academy of Science in 1781.

In 1786, it leaves on a journey, initially in Africa where it visits areas still almost unknown with the Bénin and where it constitutes a large collection of plants and Insecte S which it forwards to Paris. It arrives at Saint-Domingue (today Haiti) in 1788, its very compromised health. In 1790, he becomes member of the superior council of the colony and is actively opposed to the end Esclavage. He denounces in particular the British philanthropists whom he shows, not to worry about the cause of the blacks, but to want the ruin of the colonies dependant on slavery. The revolt thundering, it is charged to obtain helps of the the close United States and goes in 1791, with Philadelphia, but its mission fails. It turns over then in the island and escapes from little from death. Lastly, ruined by the revolts which shake the island, it must flee in Philadelphia in 1793 in greatest poverty and having lost all its collections. Moreover, preparing its return in France, he learns that the French revolution declares it proscribes and that its goods are sequestered.

To survive, he works a time in an orchestra of a circus but devotes all his serviceable time to the natural history. Thanks to the assistance of the ambassador of France, Pierre Auguste Adet (1763-1832), it succeeds in going on a journey in the interior of the North America and spends several months at the Amerindian S Creek S and Cherokee S. He becomes member of the natural Academy of Science of Philadelphia where he presents his observations.

At this point in time it prepares another forwarding, in 1798, which it learns that it was striped of the list of proscribed and that it can return to France where it ends up obtaining the release of its goods. In 1806, it replaces Michel Adanson (1727-1806) with the Academy of Science and becomes member of the council of the university in 1815.

It is particularly interested in the Cryptogame S and the Graminée S at the plants and in the Insecte S for the animals. He particularly studies the reproductive organs of foams of which he specifies operation.

Partial bibliography

Flora of Oware and Benign (1804-1821, two volumes, 120 boards).
Insects collected in Africa and America (1805-1821, 90 boards).
Preamble of the fifth and sixth families of Æthéogamie, foams, the lycopods (1805).
A tentative a new agrostography (1812).
Muscologie or treaty on foams (1822).

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