François-of-Paule Latapie

François-of-Paule Latapie (1739-1823). Philanthropist, hellenist and former inspector of manufactures of the province of Guyenne, he is the founder of the price of the Rosière of Brède: as familiar of the Castle of Brède, it accompanies in Italy the son by Montesquieu before travelling in England.

Botanist - he is the pupil of Bernard de Jussieu (1699-1777) and in same time in favor of Carl von Linné (1707-1778) -, he was described like one “of the Nestor of the naturalism of south-west”. He is the author of works on the plants of the Gironde: Hortus burdigalensis in 1784, of the Catalog of the botanical garden of Bordeaux and a Description of the commune of Brède .

Come to set at Bordeaux in 1775, year of its election as member of the Academy of the city (it is elected there on August 13rd), he becomes at once professor of botany to the botanical garden. He is characterized then by his conferences (he gives in 1776 a relation of the excavations of Pompéi to the Academy of the city of Gironde), his public courses of botany (which attended inter alia Jean Thore) and its publications of practical culture of the gardens.

Professor of Natural history at the central School of the the Gironde (and thus colleague of his friend Jean Florimond Boudon of Saint-Mercies (1748-1831) who held the same role with Agen, of Louis Ramond de Carbonnières (1755-1827) with Tarbes, of Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud (1772-1804) in Montpellier, of Julien Dufau (1780-?) with Dax, of Philippe Barb of Lapeyrouse (1744-1818) to Toulouse…) he was undoubtedly the initiator of many young people naturalists growing in Bordeaux like Jean-Baptiste Bory of Saint-Vincent (1778-1846) as regards botany. Member of the Company linnéenne in 1818, it could not take part in his meetings because of his great age.

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