Jules Verreaux

Who was Jules Verreaux?

Jules Pierre Verreaux was a French botanist and ornithologist and a professional collector of and trader in natural history specimens. He was the brother of Edouard Verreaux and nephew of Pierre Antoine Delalande.

Verreaux worked for the family business, Maison Verreaux, established in 1803 by his father, Jacques Philippe Verreaux, at Place des Vosges in Paris, which was the earliest known company that dealt in objects of natural history. The company funded collection expeditions to various parts of the world. Maison Verreaux sold many specimens to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle to add to its collections.

Verreaux travelled to Australia in 1842 to collect plants. He returned to France in 1851 with a natural history collection reported to contain 15,000 items. In 1864 he took over from Florent Prévost as assistant naturalist at the Paris Museum.

Verreaux also worked in China and South Africa, where he helped Andrew Smith found the South African Museum in Cape Town in 1825.

He is commemorated in the names of Verreaux's Eagle, Verreaux's Coua, Verreaux's Sifaka, the White-tipped Dove and the Golden Parrotbill.