Jacques Labillardière

Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition. He published a popular account of his journey and produced the first Flora on the region.

Jacques Labillardière was born in Alençon, Normandy, France on 28 October 1755. The 9th of 14 children of a lace merchant, he was born into a devoutly Roman Catholic family of modest means.

The surname Labillardière originated with Labillardière's grandfather, Jacques Houtou, who, in an affectation of nobility, appended the name of the family's estate, La Billardière, after his surname. Labillardière was thus baptised under the surname Houtou de Labillardière, but he later dropped the patronymic, retaining only Labillardière in both his publications and his signature.

As a child, he attended the Collège royal d'Alençon, where he excelled in his studies. Around 1772, he matriculated to the University of Montpellier, studying medicine under Antoine Gouan. He did not graduate from Montpellier, instead transferring to the Reims University around 1774. After graduating in 1779, he moved to Paris, where he spend much his time at the Jardin du Roi. Having decided to pursue his interest in natural history, rather than a medical career, he took up an opportunity to collect specimens for Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier.

Labillardière undertook his first voyage as a naturalist in 1783. Sent to Britain by Le Monnier to study the exotic plants in cultivation there, he ended up staying almost two years, during which time he established enduring friendships with Sir Joseph Banks, James Edward Smith, Aylmer Bourke Lambert and George Williams. On returning from Britain, Lab. immediately set out on a voyage through the French Alps.

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