It was a French officer who brought the flower that we know today as Bougainvillea, which adorns holiday settlements and summer houses all over the world. Here is the story of that soldier:
Bougainvillea named after a Frenchman who lived in the 19th century. Soldier, diplomat, mathematician, sailor and explorer, this versatile person is named Louis Antoine de Bougainville.
He was born into a wealthy family in Paris. In his youth, in 1750, at the age of twenty-one, he received military training in the Black Musketeers (Fr. Mousquetaires noires). He takes lessons from the encyclopedists D'Alembert and Clairault. Under the supervision of the latter, he prepares the Book of Integral Calculus (Traité du calcul intégral). He was twenty-six years old when the book was published in 1755, and with this publication he became known as a scholar.
Bougainville, whose life was spent with wars, takes off his military uniform at some point in his life and goes on a world tour that will last almost three years as an explorer. The tour started from France on November 15, 1766 with the frigate La Boudeuse and the cargo ship L'Etoile, and ended in Saint Malo on April 24, 1769. Of course, scientists were also invited to this world tour, which aims at scientific discoveries. One of these scientists is the naturalist and physician Philibert Commerson. Commerson participated in this world tour with 26-year-old Jean Barret, who was recorded as his assistant and valet on the ship's records.
Jean Barret, who was recorded as a man in the ship's records, was actually a woman and her name is Jeanne Barret. Since it was forbidden for a woman to travel by ship according to the laws of the period, Jeanne's appearance was compared to a man and she was put on the ship. As Commerson's assistant, using the common cabin and having a separate toilet in their cabins allowed this game to be played for about a year and a half. It was noticed in Tahiti that Jean is actually Jeanne. When Jean goes ashore, the Tahitians surround Jean and announce to the world the cries of "ayenene, ayenene", revealing her womanhood. After this event, the ship's logbook states, "On July 18, 1768, it was discovered that physician M. Comerson's servant, who had been a boy until now, was a girl." is written.
The acquaintance of Jeanne Barret and Commerson actually dates back to two years before the trip. After the death of his wife, Commerson hires Jeanne Barret as a maid to run the house. Barret was a very curious and intelligent woman. Besides maidserving, She deals with botany, natural sciences and classification and begins to assist Commerson. Thus, she begins to work as Commerson's assistant in addition to being a maid. A strong bond is established between Barret and Commerson, and it is rumored that this bond goes far beyond being an assistant.
It is stated that during this trip, Commerson collected thousands of new plant, insect, fish and bird species from all over the world. Although information sources tell us this, it is known that an ulcer that appeared on Commerson's foot at the beginning of the trip limited his mobility. At this point, I don't think it would be too fictional to say that the person who went ashore, collected the plants, classified them and brought them aboard was actually Jeanne Barret.
Brazil was one of the stops on the world tour. At this stop, Commerson and Barret encounter a climbing ivy with striking purple flowers. Commerson named this flower Bougainvillea spectabilis, after their captain, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who was fond of natural sciences and mathematics, and who he thought had a spirit of enlightenment. However, the name of this flower, of course, could have been Barret spectabilis, but it did not happen.
Commerson named many of the plants he discovered during his lifetime, after himself or his friends. Today, more than seventy plant species are named after Commerson. In fact, Commerson has not forgotten Jeanne Barret either. He named a tall shrub with dark green leaves and white flowers, Baretia bonafidia, that he found in Madagascar. However, when Commerson's report for the name of this plant genus reached Paris, this plant was named Turraea by other scientists, and Jeanne Barret's name could not be given to this shrub.
Although Jeanne Barret was known as the first woman to tour the world by sea, her contributions to the natural sciences were not seen and honored until 2012. In 2012, 205 years after his death, 3 scientists honored their ignored contributions by naming a plant species they found, Solanum baretiae, after Jeanne Barret, in an article they published.