Sebastián Vidal y Soler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sebastián Vidal
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Statue of Vidal in Manila
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| Born | 1 April 1842 |
| Died | 28 July 1889 (aged 47) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany, Forestry |
| Academic advisors | Máximo Laguna |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | S.Vidal |
Sebastián Vidal y Soler (born April 1, 1842, in Barcelona, Spain – died July 28, 1889, in Manila, Philippines) was an important Spanish scientist. He was a forester, meaning he studied and managed forests. He was also a botanist, someone who studies plants.
Contents
Who Was Sebastián Vidal?
Early Life and Studies
Sebastián Vidal and his brother, Domingo, both went to the Spanish forestry school in Madrid. After finishing their studies, they moved to the Philippines in the 1870s. At that time, the Philippines was a Spanish colony. They both worked for the forestry service there.
His Work with Plants
Sebastián Vidal was very interested in woody plants, which are plants with hard stems like trees and shrubs. But he also studied all kinds of plants from the Malesian region. This area includes countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Vidal collected many plant specimens, which are samples of plants used for scientific study. He worked with other botanists and wrote several books. One of his most famous books was Revision de Plantas Vasculares Filipinas, published in Manila in 1886.
In 1883, Vidal traveled back to Europe. He visited different herbaria there. A herbarium is like a museum for dried plant specimens. He visited the famous Kew Herbarium in England.
Leading the Botanical Garden
From 1878 until he passed away in 1889, Vidal was the director of the Botanical Garden of Manila. Sadly, he died from a disease called cholera. A statue of Vidal was put up in the Garden by an artist named Enric Clarasó. However, this statue no longer exists today.
Honours and Recognition
In 1887, a special event called the Philippines Exposition was held in Madrid, Spain. It showed off many things from the Philippines. There was a section all about the plants, forests, and animals of the islands.
Plants from the Philippines were displayed at a beautiful building called the Palacio de Cristal. This building is in the Retiro Park. For all his hard work and contributions to this exhibition, Vidal received a special award. He was given the honour of joining the Order of Isabella the Catholic.
Preserving Plant Specimens
Sadly, the main plant collection (herbarium) in Manila was destroyed in a fire in 1897. But some of Vidal's plant specimens from the Philippines are still safe today. They are kept in Europe.
Some are at Kew Gardens, where he worked with another botanist named Robert Allen Rolfe. Others are at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. After Vidal's death, scientists like Benjamín Máximo Laguna continued to study these important plant samples.
