Étienne Pierre Ventenat facts for kids
Étienne Pierre Ventenat (born March 1, 1757, died August 13, 1808) was a French botanist. He was born in Limoges, a city in France. His younger brother, Louis Ventenat, was also a naturalist.
Ventenat worked as the director of the Sainte-Geneviève library in Paris. During this time, he took a trip to England. While there, he visited many botanical gardens. These visits greatly inspired him. He decided he wanted to work in science, especially with plants.
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Becoming a Botanist
After his trip, Ventenat began studying botany. He learned from and worked with a famous botanist named Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle. In 1795, Ventenat was chosen to be a member of the Institut national des sciences et des arts. This group later changed its name to the French Academy of Sciences. Being a member of this academy was a great honor for a scientist.
Étienne Ventenat's Books
Ventenat wrote several important books about plants. These books helped people learn more about the plant world.
Early Works
In 1794, Ventenat wrote a book called Principes de botanique, expliqués au Lycée républicain par Ventenat. This book was about the basic ideas of botany. However, it did not become very popular. Ventenat was so disappointed that he reportedly tried to buy all copies of the book to have them destroyed.
Later, in 1798, he published a French version of a book by Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu. The original book was called Genera plantarum. Ventenat's translation was titled Tableau du règne végétal selon la méthode de Jussieu. In his version, Ventenat added new information. He wrote about the special features and uses of many plants.
Describing New Plants
In 1799, Ventenat published Description des plantes nouvelles et peu connues, cultivées dans le jardin de J.-M. Cels. This book described new and rare plants. These plants were grown in the botanical garden of Jacques Philippe Martin Cels.
In 1803, he wrote another important book called Le Jardin de la Malmaison. He wrote this book because Joséphine de Beauharnais, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, asked him to. She wanted to make sure the rare plants in her gardens and greenhouses at Château de Malmaison were remembered forever.
The beautiful pictures and drawings in these two books were made by a famous botanical artist named Pierre-Joseph Redouté. Ventenat also helped finish a very important book about mushrooms. This book, Histoire des champignons de la France, was started by Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard. It described many mushrooms found in France.
Other works
- Decas Generum Novorum, 1808.
Images for kids
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Clerodendrum viscosum, a plant shown in Jardin de La Malmaison
See also
In Spanish: Étienne Pierre Ventenat para niños
