See also: Blatter

The reverend father Ethelbert Blatter is a Jésuite and a Botaniste Suisse, born the September 15th 1877 with Rebstein and dead the May 20th 1934 with Poona.

He studies the modern languages with Schwyz before joining the Society of Jesus in 1896 with the great surprise of his close relations.

He supplements his studies of Philosophie before devoting himself almost exclusively to the Botanique. He comes in India in 1903 as professor from Biologie to the Holy College Xavier from Bombay.

He then starts to make appear his first publications devoted to the Asian flora . He travels much and constitutes vast a Herbier.

He makes appear in 1903 Palm off British India and Ceylon , medicinal Indian seedlings in 1918, then The Flora off Aden in 1914 and Flora off Arabia (in six volumes, 1919).

He returns in Europe in 1909 to supplement his religious studies and is ordered priest in 1912. He goes back to Bombay in 1915 where he takes again his teaching. He will become the main thing of the college in 1919. The Ferns off Bombay appears in 1922.

It is withdrawn in 1925 with Panchgani where it remains until its death.

In 1926, it supervises the republication of the Flora off the Bombay Presidency of Cooke. The Flora off the Indus delta , appears in 1927 like Beautiful flowers off Kashmir in two volumes. He is elected president of Indian Botanical Society in 1927.

Source

• Obituary published in Current Science , August 1934.