Candolle, Augustin Pyrame de (1778–1841)

Swiss botanist who coined the term ‘taxonomy’ to mean the classification of plants on the basis of their gross anatomy in his book Théorie élémentaire de la botanique (1813). He posited that plant relationships can be determined by the symmetry of their sexual organs and introduced the concept of homologous parts, the idea that an organ or structure possessed by different plants may indicate a common ancestor.

Candolle was born in Geneva and kept detailed botanical notebooks from the age of 14, which included descriptions of the flora of the Swiss Plateau and the Jura mountains. In 1794, he began to study medicine at the College de Calvin, but transferred to Paris 1796 to study natural sciences. He was commissioned by the French government to make a botanical and agricultural survey of France 1806–12. In 1808, he was made professor of botany at the Ecole de Médecine and Faculté des Sciences in Montpellier.

In 1816, he became professor of natural history at the Academy of Geneva, where he was responsible for reorganizing its botanical gardens. He was made rector of the academy 1831–32, retiring 1835. His research included not only botany, but also pharmacology, and he published several textbooks, including Cours de botanique 1828 and his twenty volume work Plantorum historia succulentarum.