André Guillaumin

Who was André Guillaumin?

André Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin was a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons.

He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer. He obtained a doctorate in science in 1910 and became assistant to the chair of botany and plant physiology. In 1932 he succeeded Désiré Georges Jean Marie Bois as head of the department of horticulture at the museum. He became the deputy director of the museum from 1947 to 1950, retiring in 1956.

His work includes the investigation of the parts of Oxalidaceae, Rutaceae, Burseraceae, Hamamelidaceae, Haloragaceae, Callitrichaceae, Rhizophoraceae, Mehistomaceae and Crypteroniaceae in Flore générale de l'Indo-Chine, Arbres et arbrisseaux utiles ou ornementaux and Les Fleurs de jardins. In 1928 he published a posthumous book by Léon Diguet, Les Cactacées utiles du Mexique.

Despite limited resources, Guillaumin made significant contributions to the museum, and was the creator of several gardens, including the winter, or alpine garden.