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Jóse Jeronimo Triana: Colombian Botanist

1986; Elsevier BV; Volume: 61; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0025-6196(12)62610-x

1942-5546

Robert A. Kyle, Marc A. Shampo,

Literary and Cultural Studies

Jóse Jeronimo Triana was born in Zipaquirá, Colombia, in 1826. Although first intending to study medicine, he began the study of botony at Bogotá as a private pupil of Francisco Javier Matis. In 1850, Triana was appointed associate botanist on the Codazzi Commission, which was charged with preparing and publishing a geographic map of Colombia. He traveled throughout Andean Colombia collecting plants and presented his herbarium of 38 volumes, each containing about 100 species, to the government. Triana also collected information on the botonic medical traditions of the native medicine men and the home remedies of the mestizo societies. These data, in addition to his herbarium, established his scientific reputation both in Colombia and in Europe. In 1856, Triana was commissioned by the government to tour Europe for 2 years, publicizing Colombian plants of economic value. Shortly before his departure from Bogotá, he married Mercedes Umaña, who bore him 15 children. In Paris, he met the botanist Descaine and was aided by Jules Planchon in the publication of Flora de la Nueva Granada (New Granada was the name of Colombia at that time). Triana devoted several years to the study of the Melastomaceae and in 1865 presented his Monografia de las melastomáceas. The monograph was published 6 years later and earned Triana the Candolle Prize. Triana extensively and systematically reviewed the Cinchona species and traveled to Madrid twice to study Jóse Celestino Mutis' work on quinine. He also presented Mutis' Quinologia at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867. Triana hoped to publish a complete flora of Colombia, but the government was unable to support him financially. Subsequently, he almost completely abandoned his botanic studies and his herbarium deteriorated. Appointed New Granada's consul general to Paris, he devoted himself to commercial and industrial projects and made no more important scientific contributions. In 1889, Triana was struck by a carriage; he died on Oct. 31, 1890, after a surgical procedure. He was honored on a stamp issued by Colombia in 1950.