Denis Dodart

Who was Denis Dodart?

Denis Dodart was a French physician, naturalist and botanist. Trained at the University of Paris, he gained his doctorate of medicine in 1660 and was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1673. In botany he is notable for his early studies of plant respiration and growth. He collaborated with the French engraver Nicolas Robert in several illustrated works including Estampes de Plantes and Mémoires pour servir á l'Histoire des Plantes.

His father Jean Dodart was a Parisian notary and his mother Marie Dubois was the daughter of a lawyer. Suspicion that his parents, like many from the legal professions, had been supporters of the Fronde uprising nearly derailed his election to the Academy of Sciences.