Jean-François Leroy (botanist)
Jean-François Leroy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jean François Pierre Leroy 25 February 1915 |
| Died | 8 February 1999 |
| Education | University of Lyon, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle |
| Known for | Tropical botany; flora of Madagascar |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Muséum national d'histoire naturelle |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | J.-F.Leroy |
Jean-François Leroy (25 February 1915 – 8 February 1999) was a French botanist who specialised in tropical botany, particularly the flora of Madagascar, and served for many years at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.[1]
Biography
Jean-François Leroy was born in Athis-de-l'Orne, Normandy. His father, a schoolteacher, died one year after his birth, and Leroy spent his early childhood living with his grandmother, alongside his mother and sister. He completed his primary and secondary education in Flers.[2]
Initially pursuing literary studies, Leroy obtained a degree in literature at the University of Lyon in 1938. On the advice of Auguste Chevalier, a distant relative and prominent botanist, he shifted toward botany and joined the Laboratory of Tropical Agronomy at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, directed by Chevalier.[2]
At the Muséum, Leroy successively served as assistant, deputy director from 1948, and later professor without chair in 1965. He earned a degree in natural sciences in 1944, completed his doctorate in sciences in 1954, and from 1969 to 1982 held the chair of phanerogamy.[2]
Continuing Chevalier's work on tropical flora, Leroy focused particularly on Madagascar, using its plant diversity as a foundation for studies related to evolutionary theory and the origin of flowering plants.[2]
Jean-François Leroy died on 8 February 1999 in Le Chesnay at the age of 83.[1]
Selected works
- Charles Darwin et la théorie moderne de l'évolution (1966)[3]
- Flore du Gabon (1985)[4]
- Flore de Madagascar (1991)[5]
- Origine et évolution des plantes à fleurs : les Nymphéas et le génie de la nature (1993)[6]
References
- ^ a b "Jean-François Leroy". Le Monde (in French). 19 February 1999. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ a b c d "Jean-François Leroy" (PDF). Adansonia (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Charles Darwin et la théorie moderne de l'évolution" (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Flore du Gabon" (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Flore de Madagascar" (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ^ "Origine et évolution des plantes à fleurs" (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2026.