[Charles Gaudichaud, chemist in the Navy (1789-1854]

Born into a family of Angouleme, Charles Gaudichaud (1789-1854) became a chemist in the Navy. He sailed round the world twice and spent over a year in South America. The Academy of Sciences awarded him the Montyon prize of physiology. He was elected to that Academy in 1837, where he succeded Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. He supported relentlessly the now obsolete theory of phytons in which he firmly believed. He classified his numerous collections of plants which he had brought from his voyages and he has left an imprint on the world of natural sciences, and especially botanics. A botanical genus is named after him as a tribute to his work, as well as many classificed species.