Leo Lesquereux

Who was Leo Lesquereux?

Charles Léo Lesquereux was a Swiss bryologist and a pioneer of American paleobotany. He was born in the town of Fleurier, located in the canton of Neuchâtel.

Due to a childhood accident, Lesquereux suffered from progressive hearing loss that eventually led to total deafness. Despite the fact he lacked formal training in botany, he became a celebrated figure in the field of paleobotany. Until 1827 he took classes at the academy at Neuchâtel, and subsequently worked as a tutor of French language in Eisenach. Afterwards he returned to Switzerland as a schoolteacher, and later principal in the town of Locle. Within three years his hearing had deteriorated to the point he had to give up his teaching job.

As a young man he took many excursions in order to collect mosses in the Jura Mountains, eventually leading to investigations of peat bogs. His pioneer research and analysis on the origin, composition and development of peat resulted in a close friendship with famed scientist Louis Agassiz. Soon afterwards, Lesquereux was commissioned by the Prussian government to perform scientific studies of peat bogs throughout Europe.