Chrono-Biographical Sketch: Henri Gaussen

Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches

Gaussen, (Marcel-) Henri (France 1891-1981)
phytogeography, geography, cartography

The author of nearly five hundred books, articles, and maps, Gaussen was one of the mid-twentieth century's most outstanding plant geographers. After taking his Ph.D. at the University of Toulouse, he continued on at that institution for most of the rest of his life, focusing his research efforts on French biogeography, agriculture, vegetation, ecology and forests, and on the evolutionary biology of gymnosperms; he also did work in economic geography, climatology, and botany. Gaussen's name is especially connected with Pyreneen studies. His professional connections included directorship of the Registry Vegetation of France, presidency of the Commission Française de Cartographie, and membership in the Academy of Sciences, Paris, and the French Academy of Agriculture.

Life Chronology

--born in Cabrières d'Aigues, Vaucluse, France, on 14 July 1891.
--1921: made a member of the faculty of sciences at the University of Toulouse
--1922: founds the sylvo-pastoral laboratory at Jouéou (later the Laboratoire Forestier, Toulouse)
--1926: publishes his thesis, Végétation de la Moitié Orientale des Pyrénées, Sol--Climat--Végétation
--1930-1942: publishes his Les Forêts des Pyrénées, in 23 parts
--1933: publishes his Géographie des Plantes
--1934: publishes his Géographie Botanique et Agricole des Pyrénées Orientales
--1937: publishes Charles Flahault's La Distribution Géographique des Végétaux dans la Région Méditerranéenne Française (Flahault died in 1935)
--1946: made director of the Service de la Carte de la Végétation de la France, in Toulouse
--1948: publishes his map Carte de la Végétation de la France
--1971: receives the Grand Prix of the Société de Géographie pour Travaux et Publications Géographiques
--dies at Toulouse, France, on 27 July 1981.

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