Francois Liénard de la Mivoye was born in 1782 in India of French parents. He arrived in Isle de France at a very young age and was raised up by his grandfather who was the Superintendent for the region of Flacq. Liénard de la Mivoye was passionate about natural history.
Liénard de la Mivoye, who later enrolled in the navy, fought in many battles and was even a prisoner of war before being released by his own troops. He came back to Isle de France and married in 1807. His career turned to commercial navigation and he travelled widely. His travels help to expand his knowledge of natural science. Liénard de la Mivoye was in India when the British set sail to conquer Isle de France in 1810.
Francois Liénard de la Mivoye also created a museum which regrettably was destroyed during the Great Fire of 1816. Despite losing, all his possessions, he however was not discouraged and started all over again.
In 1829, Francois Liénard de la Mivoye was one of the founders of the Natural History Society of Mauritius. In between 1835 and 1839 Liénard de la Mivoye produced descriptions of several fish, two of which were squales and others from the Acanthopterygian species. He also studied mammals, crustaceans, worms and reptiles.
Liénard de la Mivoye even offered a crocodile to Adrien d’ Epinay, who kept the reptile at Mon Plaisir. The animal however, escaped and was only captured three years later in the marshes of Beau Plan. By then the reptile grew up to 1.5 metres in length.
After 1841 Francois Liénard de la Mivoye financed another museum as a donation to the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences. It included amongst other items, a collection of paintings of fruits of Mauritius.
In 1860, Francois Liénard de la Mivoye succeeded in introducing the Gourami and useful plants to France, where he settled at an old age. He was held in high esteem by the members of the Académie des Sciences and became a member of the Société d’Horticulture de Paris and Société Impériale d’Acclimatation. Prince Napoleon rewarded Francois Liénard de la Mivoye a medal of honour on behalf of the French Emperor
In addition to the famous white marble Obelisk in the Botanical Garden, Liénard de la Mivoye also offered the Gates at the entrance of the Garden. He erected a monument in memory of Commerson at Grande Retraite in Flacq district where Commerson had lived.
Liénard de la Mivoye is commemorated in the specific name of the sea snail Conus lienardi.