French physician and botanist. Pierre Barrère qualified as a doctor from the university in his native Perpignan. His thesis on the medical uses of botany attracted the notice of Antoine de Jussieu, through whom in 1721 he gained an appointment as a naval surgeon. Barrère almost immediately accompanied a group of colonists sent to populate French Guiana. During his two-year stay in the colony at Cayenne, between 1722 and 1724, he collected mainly medicinal and food plants, which were incorporated into Jussieu's herbarium. Barrère took a special interest in Bixa orellana, or achiote, long used by the original inhabitants to make body paint. He also attempted to introduce coffee and sugar to the colony. After an epidemic of yellow fever, he returned to France, where in 1741 he published a work on the natural history of Cayenne and Remire, followed by another entitled Nouvelle Relation de la France Équinoxale in 1743. He was appointed professor, and later rector, of the university in Perpignan, where he died in 1755, age 45. The genus Barreria Scop. (= Poraqueiba Aubl.) in the Icacinaceae was dedicated to him. He is also commemorated by Vanilla barrereana Y. Veyret & Szlach.

Sources:
L. Allorge, 2003, La Fabuleuse Odysée des Plantes: 454-455.