Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre is a French botanist and writer born on the 19th of January 1737, in Havre, France.
In 1760, Bernardin de St Pierre joined the army as an engineer but is destituted due to insubordination. He then stayed briefly in Paris before moving around Europe to Holland, Russia, Germany and Poland.
At the end of 1766, Bernardin returned to Paris and unsuccessfully wrote about his voyages. He obtained his license as a Captain engineer and departed for Isle de France in 1768.
On his arrival on the island, Bernardin de St Pierre was appalled of the extent of deforestation caused by the agricultural and real estate expansion. He tried to convince the Governor of Isle de France about the necessity of conserving the primary forests for the island’s sustainable development.
In 1771, after a stay of three years in the Mascarenes, Bernardin de St Pierre; aged 34, returned to Paris .
In 1773, he published Voyage à l’Isle de France, à l’Isle Bourbon, au cap de Bonne-Espérance, par Un Officier du Roi.
Bernardin de Saint Pierre took inspiration from the shipwreck of the St Géran on the eastern coast of Isle de France in 1744 to write his novel Paul et Virginie in 1788. This novel was set to become a best seller and a reference in French Literature.
Two statues linking Bernardin de St Pierre and the protagonists of Paul et Virginie have since been erected in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and in the SSR Botanic Garden in Mauritius.
Bernardin de St Pierre was appointed as Intendant of Jardin des Plantes in 1791. He performed as a professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure before becoming a member of Institut de France in 1795.
He was elected at the Académie Française in 1803 and was awarded the distinction Chevalier de La Légion d’Honneur in 1806
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre was 77 years old when he passed away in 1814. He is remembered as a popular wiseman.
A well-versed quote from Bernardin de St Pierre is inscribed on The Obelisque Liénard in the SSR Botanic Garden in Pamplemousses that reads:
“Le don d’une plante utile me paraît plus précieux que la découverte d’une mine d’or et un monument plus durable qu’une pyramide”.