French naturalist and explorer. Born at Châtillon-les-Dombes, where his father was a notary and magistrate, the oldest of 14 children, Philibert Commerson qualifed in medicine at Montpellier in 1755 and spent another four years making a special study of botany. His work drew the attention of other naturalists, including Linnaeus, who commissioned him on behalf of the Queen of Sweden to describe and collect the most interesting species of fish in the Mediterranean, the result of which was one the most important works of ichthyology of the 18th century.
After obtaining his doctorate, Commerson went to Geneva to study the plants of Savoie and Switzerland. He then returned to his family home, where he established a botanical garden, enriched by his collecting trips around France. The death of his wife plunged him into a deep depression. Leaving behind his young son, he moved to Paris in 1764, where he became acquainted with de Jussieu and his explorer-naturalists.
A few years later, as a royal botanist and physician, he accepted a position as Bougainville's assistant on his voyage around the world (1767-1768), and was instrumental in planning its itinerary: Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, the coasts of Magellan, the South Pacific Islands, returning via Australia, the Molluccas, Java, and Réunion. Commerson shared with Bougainville all the work of exploration, and everywhere the ships landed he collected plants in large quantities. However, he did not return to France with Bougainville. Instead he remained on Réunion (then Ile de Bourbon), engaged by Intendant Poivre to describe the natural riches of the island. From summer 1770 until late 1771, encouraged by Poivre, he studied the flora, fauna, and ethnology of Madagascar and Mauritius. He returned to Réunion, ill and exhausted; worse was his discovery that during his absence Poivre had been replaced by Intendent Maillard de Melle, who took against him, depriving him of the home and other benefits that Poivre had provided to him. He never regained his health, dying in 1773 at the age of 46. His election to the Académie des Sciences came eight days after his death.
Too busy making observations, he never composed the projected work on his explorations. All his documents, drawings, and collections were sent to the French government and deposited at the Musée du Roi in Paris, where de Jussieu and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck worked on them. Johann Reinhold Forster, who made a similar voyage in the South Seas with James Cook, dedicated the plant genus Commersonia J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. to him.
Before his departure from France, Commerson had made a will leaving his entire estate to his housekeeper, Jeanne Barret. Unknown to Bougainville, however, she embarked at Rochefort with her lover Commerson, disguised as his male servant. Her identity was eventually discovered in Tahiti. Amused rather than angry, Bougainville separated them, but only until the expedition reached Mauritius. After Commerson's death, Jeanne Barret married a soldier in the infantry of the French Navy and eventually returned to Châtillon-les-Dombes. Once widowed, she left her meager goods to Commerson's heirs.
Sources:
C.F. Dufay, 1852, Dictionnaire Biographique des Personages Notables
J.C.F. Hoefer, 1852, Nouvelles Biographies Generales.
