John Isaac Briquet

Who was John Isaac Briquet?

John Isaac Briquet was a Swiss botanist, director of the Conservatoire Botanique at Geneva. He studied botany with Simon Schwendener, Adolf Engler, Marc Thury, Johannes Müller Argoviensis, and Alphonse de Candolle. Besides his floristic work, he had a particular interest in the genus Galeopsis, and family Lamiaceae. He is particularly remembered for his contributions to the Rules of Nomenclature, the precursors of the modern International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, with which he took a leading role from 1900, at a time when four sets of rules were competing for acceptance:

... for more than 30 years [he] was to take de Candolle's place as the leader in nomenclatural matters and ... by his clear-headedness, good nature, and judicial attitude was to contribute much to the solution of their problems.