Élie Magloire Durand (1794 - 1873)
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Biography
Sources
Selected publications
Biography
1794 born in Mayenne, France
trained as a pharmacist
1813 commsioned as a pharmacist in the French army under Napoleon
1816 emigrates to America, landing in New York
1822 marries Polymnia Rose Ducatel
1822 Polymnia dies
1825 marries Marie Antoinette Berauld, opens own apothecary shop in Philadelphia
1837 collecting expedition to the Dismal Swamp, in Virginia
1862 collecting expedition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians
1873 August 14, dies in Philadelphia
Durand's apothecary shop in Philadelphia seems to have been something of a center for botany and botanists in America. He went out of his way to make it physically spectacular, importing marble countertops, mahogany cabinets, and the like from France (where he got the money for this, I don't know). He also collected many botanical books and journals, and made these available to botanists. He funded some botanical explorers and bought their plant collections, acquiring the herbaria of Nuttall and Rafinesque. He himself undertook the two major expeditions listed above, and of course collected extensively in the Phiadelphia area.
The herbarium references are from Humphrey, who notes for instance that Durand went to Paris in 1868
"and took with him his herbarium of more than 10,000 species and 100,000 specimens. This he presented to the Musée du Jardin des Plantes, where it was placed in a special room as the Herbier Durand." p. 77
I'm assuming for the moment that Elias J. Durand is a relative of his.
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Sources
Harry Baker Humphrey (1961) Makers of North American Botany
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Selected Publications
Élie Magloire Durand (1857) "Obituary of François André Michaux" in American Journal of Science 2nd series, 24 pp. 161 - 177
Élie Magloire Durand (1860) "Biographical Memoir of the late François André Michaux" in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 11 p. 17
Élie Magloire Durand (1922) "The genus Catinella" in Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 49:1 pp. 15 - 21
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