Thursday, March 28

Aimé Bonpland, the brilliant botanist overshadowed by Alexander von Humboldt who fell in love with Latin America


  • Dalia Ventura
  • BBC News World

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858) in their exploration of the Amazon rainforest, painted by Eduard Ender (1822-1883) in 1856.
Caption,

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858) in their exploration of the Amazon rainforest, painted by Eduard Ender (1822-1883) in 1856.

Nonetheless“-wrote in a letter of 1848 Aimé Bonpland a decade before he died-“I am happy“.

Yes, my dear friend, I am a young and happy old man, living among flowers and loved ones. This wonderful America, full of contrasts, has bound me with strong ties. “

In that America he spent 47 of his 85 years of life, which began in La Rochelle, a coastal city in southwestern France, in 1773.

He studied medicine with the best of the time in Paris, and also with the most famous naturalists, a discipline in which he developed a deep interest that led him to the continent with which he would fall in love on one of the most colossal journeys in history.


www.bbc.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *