Jean-Louis Berlandier

Who was Jean-Louis Berlandier?

Jean-Louis Berlandier was a French naturalist, physician, and anthropologist.

Berlandier was born in rural Fort de l'Écluse, near France's border with Switzerland, and trained as a botanist in Geneva. During this time he probably served an apprenticeship to a pharmacist.

In his early 20s, he joined a Mexican scientific expedition as a biologist and plant specialist. Berlandier arrived at Pánuco, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, in December 1826. He collected plants in the surrounding area before continuing into Texas as part of the Mexican Boundary Commission. The commission left Mexico City on November 10, 1827, under the command of Manuel de Mier y Terán. Berlandier made botanical collections around Laredo, Texas, in February 1828 and around San Antonio, Gonzales, and San Felipe in March, April, and May 1828. After a brief trip to the interior of the country due to malaria, he returned to San Antonio. He collected botanical specimens, made notes on animal species, and collected information on over forty Native American tribes in the surrounding territory, with special emphasis on the Comanche.