Ethelbert Blatter

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SJ pioneering taxonomist of the flora of the Indian subcontinent
.

Ethelbert Blatter

Asiatic Society of Bengal.[1]

Early life

Blatter was born in the

Canton of Obwalden, in Central Switzerland. His classmates at Sarnen remembered him as not only brilliant in every subject, but also a high-spirited companion with a reputation for pranks. After Sarnen, Blatter went on to have a brilliant career in high school in Schwyz, capital of the Canton of Schwyz, northeast of the canton of Obwalden. In October 1896, after finishing high school, Blatter moved to the border town of Feldkirch, Austria to join the Noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus. Since German Jesuits were in exile under Bismarck, Blatter moved to the Netherlands in 1898 to first pursue classical studies and then study philosophy in the college of Valkenburg aan de Geul in the southernmost province of Limburg. Around this time, he also developed an interest in botany and attended many scientific conferences in Europe.[1]

India I

In 1903, Blatter moved to India and was appointed Professor of Botany at

Ceylon, Indigenous and Introduced. The articles were subsequently published in book form by Oxford University Press.[3]

Theological studies in Europe

Returning to Europe in 1909, Blatter chose to complete his theological studies in Hastings, South East England, where exiled Jesuits from two French provinces had opened a school of theology. During this time, Blatter also spent much time researching and compiling his papers, Flora of Aden,[4] at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Ordained as a priest on 25 August 1912, Blatter spent another year in the Netherlands, before returning to London to compile data for his next effort, Flora Arabica.[5] Still in London when Great War broke out, Blatter booked his passage to India on a Japanese boat. Despite facing rifle fire from Turkish soldiers in the Suez Canal, the ship's journey was mostly uneventful, and Blatter arrived in Bombay in October 1915.[1]

India II

Returning to his position as professor of botany at St Xavier's, Blatter expended great energy during the next few years both traveling and building an extensive botanical collection. Consequently, St. Xavier's College had one of the best herbaria in Western India during those years. He was appointed principal of the college in 1919, retaining his professorial chair until 1924. He also became a prominent member of Bombay University Senate, and played a major role in influencing later university reforms.[1]

In 1925 Blatter retired to

W.S. Millard titled, Some Beautiful Indian Trees were published around this time. These papers too resulted in a book of the same name, a classic, still in print.[6] Other books pertaining to India from this time were the two-volume Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir (1927, 1928);[7] The Flora of the Indus Delta (with Charles McCann and T. S. Sabnis, 1929);[8] and The Ferns of Bombay (with J. F. D'Almeida, 1932).[9]
The following year he was elected Vice-President of BNHS.

In 1930, during an expedition to

Asiatic Society of Bengal for "Conspicuous Important contributions to the knowledge of Asiatic Botany."[1]

Fr. Ethelbert Blatter died on 26 May 1934 at St. Vincent's High School, Pune.

Selected publications

  • Blatter, Ethelbert;
    ISBN 978-0195621624
    .
The standard author abbreviation Blatt. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e McCann, C. 1934. "Ethelbert Blatter, S.J." Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, xxxvii(2):465-473.
  2. ^ Blatter, E. 1905. "The Fauna and Flora of our Metallic Money". Journal Bombay Natural Hist. Soc. xvi:334-339.
  3. ^ Blatter, E. 1926. The Palms of British India and Ceylon. Oxford University Press. pp. xxviii, 600, 106 plates.
  4. ^ Blatter, E. 1907, 1908. "The Flora of Aden." Journ. Bombay Natural Hist. Soc., xvii:895-920, xviii:54-68.
  5. ^ Blatter, E. 1919-1923. "Flora Arabica." Rec. Bot. Surv. India, viii:1-450.
  6. ^ Blatter & Millard 1954.
  7. ^ Blatter, Ethelbert. 1927, 1928. Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir. John Bale Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. London. vol. i pp. xv, 198, 33 coloured plates. vol. ii pp. xv, 204, 31 coloured plates.
  8. ^ Blatter, E., F. Hallberg, and C. McCann. 1929. The Flora of the Indus Delta. Methodist Publishing House, Madras. pp 173, 37 plates.
  9. ^ Blatter, E. and J. F. D'Almeida. 1932. The Ferns of Bombay. D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay. pp. vii, 228, 15 plates.
  10. Imperial Gazetteer of India
    , vol 24, pp. 379-384.
  11. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Blatt.


External links

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