Botanist and clergyman Hector Léveillé was born in Le Mans, France, and attended medical school before being ordained into the priesthood in September 1887. He then travelled to India as a missionary, being appointed Professor of Natural History at the College of Pondicherry.

His time in India was cut short by ill health and Léveillé was once more in Le Mans in 1891. Following his return he dedicated himself to botany, founding the journal Le Monde des Plantes and the Académie Internationale de Géographie Botanique in 1892. The journal of the latter was initially named Bulletin de l'académie internationale de botanique but from 1900 was known as Bulletin de géographie botanique.

After meeting the botanist Adrien Franchet in 1900, Léveillé was encouraged to make a study of the tens of thousands of specimens sent to his Académie by collectors in the Far East. He subsequently described some 2,000 new species from China and Korea.

Numerous species were dedicated to Léveillé by other botanists, such as Carex leveillei Husnot, Polystichum leveillei C.Chr and Viola leveillei Boisseau, as well as the genus Leveillea Vaniot. Léveillé's rich herbarium, mostly comprising specimens collected by others, was later acquired by plant collector George Forrest.

Sources:
A. Gentil, 1919, Bulletin de l'académie internationale de botanique, 28: 153-154; 29: 57-96
Anon., 1919, Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 1919: 85.