Botanist Louis Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars was a French aristocrat who arrived on Isle De France in 1792, while being on exile in the Indian Ocean at the time of the French revolution.
Du Petit-Thouars spent his time studying fauna and collecting many plant specimens on Madagascar, Isle de France (Mauritius) and Ile Bourbon (La Réunion). He did pioneering botanical work by his descriptions and illustrations of orchids from this region, 52 species from Mauritius and 55 from La Réunion.
In 1802 Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars was able to return to France with a collection of about 2000 plants; including the Angraecum elatum, collected from Isle de France.
His book Histoire des végétaux recueillis dans les îles de France, de Bourbon et de Madagascar; illustrated by many beautiful drawings, was published in 1804. His other publications are : Mélanges de botanique et de voyages in 1811and Histoire particulière des plantes orchidées recueillies dans les trois îles australes de France, de Bourbon et de Madagascar
In 1807, Aubert du Petit-Thouars was appointed Director of The Imperial Nurseries of Roule in Paris; a position he held until 1827. He was elected member of the prestigious Académie des Sciences on 10 April 1820.
Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars is considered as a pioneer in botany, to whom modern science still owes a lot. Most of his collection went to the Musée de Paris, while some species ended up at Kew Gardens.
An extensive number of plants are named after Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars. The Elephant leg tree bearing botanical name Moringa thouarsii is one of the many examples.