Matthieu Bonafous

Matthieu Bonafous (7 March 1793 – 22 March 1852) was a French botanist born in Lyon.^[1]

Matthieu Bonafous
Matthieu Bonafous in 1857
Born	March 7, 1793 Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France
Died	March 23, 1852
Occupation	Botanist

Early life

Matthieu Bonafous was born on March 7, 1793, in Lyon, France.^[2]

Career

Bonafous wrote Histoire Naturelle, Agricole et Économique du Mäis, a monograph about maize, in 1836.^[2][3] In it, he showed that corn was able to adapt to hostile weather conditions.^[4] For example, it could grow in sand (as in New Jersey), in humid climate (like Colombia) or in cold weather (like the Apennine Mountains).^[4]

He also wrote about mulberry trees and their use for raising silkworms in De la culture des Mûriers (1822) and Traité de l'éducation des Vers à Soie et de la culture du Mûrier (1840).^[5]

The plant Bonafousia was named after him.^[6]

Death

He died on March 23, 1852.^[2]

Other works

• Bonafous, M. (1833). Traité du maïs, ou, Histoire naturelle et agricole de cette céréale. Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d'Agriculture.
• Bonafous, M. (1822). De la culture des mûriers. J.M. Barret.