Bonpland, Aime Jacques Alexandre (1773-1858)

French botanist and explorer of South America who, with Alexander von Humboldt, travelled 9,650 km/6,301 mi in South America and collected over 6,000 new species of plants. Their travels and discoveries are described in 23 volumes published 1805-34: Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland aux regions quinoxiales du nouveau continent, fait en 1799-1804.

Bonpland was born in Rochelle, France. He met von Humboldt in Paris and, in 1799, they set out on an expedition to Central and South America together. Over five years, they explored both the Orinoco and Amazon rivers, visited the Andes and Cuba, and climbed several volcanoes in Ecuador. They each had peaks in the Sierra Nevada National Park in northwestern Venezuela named in their honour.

Bonpland contracted malaria 1800, a condition which plagued him for the rest of his life. He was arrested 1816 in South America on a trip in Paraguay and kept in prison for nine years, during which time he continued to correspond with Humboldt.