French naturalist and explorer. Born in Arnas (Rhône), Jean Chaffanjon was an aide-naturaliste at the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Lyon and a demonstrator on the anthropology course at the University, before departing for Martinique in 1882 to take up a position at the lycée teaching natural history.
Following the deaths of his wife and son, he accepted a mission on behalf of the French Ministry of Public Instruction to explore the Orinoco Basin. In 1884 he travelled down the Orinoco to the mouth of the Meta and down the Caura to the confluence with the Erebato. In 1886 and 1887, he continued to explore in Venezuela and the Federal Territory of Amazona, accompanied by the painter Auguste Morisot, who was hired for the mission. On 18 December 1886 they reached the source of the Orinoco.
After a third excursion in 1890, Chaffanjon returned to France, where he received the gold medal from the Société de Géographie. During his sojourn in Paris, he became involved in politics and made a successful application for an expedition to Asia. Between October 1884 and December 1886, he and his companions, Louis Gay and Henri Mangini, travelled in central Asia, Mongolia, and Manchuria, and amassed an enormous natural history collection. Afterwards Chaffanjon went into business, first in Vladivostok, then in the Dutch East Indies, where he operated a Hevea rubber plantation. He died in Tijitlim, on the island of Bintang, as the result of a fall from his boat.
The botanical and ethnographical specimens from his explorations and later travels were sent to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris (P), including about 600 plants from the Orinoco basin. Among his many discoveries were Ranunculus chaffanjonii Danguy ex Finet & Gagnep. from Turkestan, Lactuca chaffanjonii Danguy from Mongolia, Vitis chaffanjonii H. Lév. & Vaniot = Ampelopsis chaffanjonii (H. Lév. & Vaniot) Rehder) from China and the beetle Carabus chaffanjoni Lesne from Siberia.
Sources:
A. Magnin, 1914, "Notice sur Jean Chaffanjon", Annales de la Sociétée botanique de Lyon, 49: 1-4.
