Pierre Poivre
Pierre Poivre (23 August 1719 – 6 January 1786) was an 18th-century
.He was a missionary to East Asia, intendant of French colonial islands in the Indian Ocean, and wearer of the cordon of St. Michel.[1]
Career
In his early 20s (ca. 1739), Poivre was a missionary in Far Eastern locations that included Cochinchina, Guangzhou, and Portuguese Macau. In 1745 as a member of the French East India Company, while on a journey to the East Indies, he was struck by a cannonball on the wrist while engaged in a naval battle with the British. The injury required the amputation of part of his right arm.
- Botanical garden
In the 1760s, Poivre became administrator intendant of
- Spice trade
Poivre is also remembered for introducing spice plants to Mauritius and Reunion, such as
Publications
- Voyages of a Philosopher − Voyages d'un philosophe ou observations sur les moeurs et les arts des peuples de l'Afrique, de l'Asie et de l'Amérique — Fortuné-Barthélemy de Félice, 1769.[3] The book was read with interest by Thomas Jefferson, his description of mountain rice cultivated in Vietnam caught Jefferson's attention.[4]
- Tableau historique de l'Inde, contenant un abrégé de la mithologie et des mœurs indiennes — Aux dépens de la Société typographique, 1771.[5]
Taxonomy
Family
Pierre Poivre married Françoise Robin (1749 - 1841) on 5 September 1766 in Pommiers, Rhône. They had three children:
- Marie Poivre (1768 - 1787)
- Françoise Julienne Ile-de-France Poivre (1770 - 1845), married Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy (1750 - 1806)
- Sarah Poivre (1773 - 1814)
He was an uncle to the renowned French
- Honors
The
Pierre's surname means "pepper" (Poivre;ⓘ) in French, leading some authors to identify him as the subject of the Peter Piper rhyme.[7]
References
- JSTOR 3633634.
- ISBN 1-56836-202-1.
"Provost set out in May 1769 for the Spice Islands ... Poivre had been a tireless collector of intelligence on the islands, and his sources informed him of the discovery of a small, uninhabited island northwest of Ternate called Miao, where spices grew in abundance and the Dutch were not especially vigilant as to its security."
- ^ Pierre Poivre (1769). Voyages of a Philosopher – via Google Books.
- Ile Bourbon. To break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade, he too resorted to smuggling, and even to night raids. But it was Poivre's description of the mountain rice of Vietnam, a country ruled by philosopher-princes, that particularly caught Jefferson's attention."
- ISBN 9781104474300– via Google Books.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Poivre.
- ISBN 0-8117-1514-0.
External links
Media related to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden at Wikimedia Commons- Photographs of the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden—Botanical Garden of Pamplemousses, Travel Mauritius
- "Mauritius Heritage in Pamplemousses Gardens", Gaia Discovery
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