Biography

Botanist from Resanice, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) which was then part of the Austrian empire, christened Vaclar Pojer and later also known as Václav, Wenzel or Wencelaus Bojer. The son of a gardener, he followed the same profession and was apprenticed on the estate of Count Caspar Maria von Sternberg. His exceptional aptitude for botany brought him to the attention of F.W. Sieber who helped Bojer gain a position in the Imperial Museum in Vienna.

Sieber organised an expedition to Madagascar and Mauritius (1821-1823), appointing Bojer as assistant to botanist K.T. Hilsenberg. Bojer returned to Mauritius in 1824 but his co-collector had died on an expedition to Madagascar. His friend Charles Telfair convinced Bojer to stay with him on the Bois Chéri estate in Mauritius and work on the floristics of Mauritius. Perhaps the most famous discovery by Bojer was Delonix regia (Hook.) Raf., originally described under the name Poinciana regia Bojer. ex Hook. and now grown as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics. He was appointed Professor of Botany (1826-1832) at the Royal College in Mauritius and later Professor of Natural History and Agricultural Chemistry (1855-1856). Bojer was largely informally associated with the Pamplemousses Botanic Garden, initially assisting John White (1783-1830), as Acting Director (1848-1848) and later assisting James Duncan (1802-1876).

Also known as a naturalist, Bojer collected amphibia and was a founder member of the Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Ile Maurice and elected vice-president (1829-1856). With Louis Bouton he formed a small colonial herbarium, later incorporated into the Mauritius Institute herbarium, now the herbarium of the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MAU). Some of his original material was transferred to Kew. The plant genus Bojeria DC. in the Asteraceae was named in his honour.

Biography

Botanist from Resanice, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) which was then part of the Austrian empire, christened Vaclar Pojer and later also known as Václav, Wenzel or Wencelaus Bojer. The son of a gardener, he followed the same profession and was apprenticed on the estate of Count Caspar Maria von Sternberg. His exceptional aptitude for botany brought him to the attention of F.W. Sieber who helped Bojer gain a position in the Imperial Museum in Vienna.

Sieber organised an expedition to Madagascar and Mauritius (1821-1823), appointing Bojer as assistant to botanist K.T. Hilsenberg. Bojer returned to Mauritius in 1824 but his co-collector had died on an expedition to Madagascar. His friend Charles Telfair convinced Bojer to stay with him on the Bois Chéri estate in Mauritius and work on the floristics of Mauritius. Perhaps the most famous discovery by Bojer was Delonix regia (Hook.) Raf., originally described under the name Poinciana regia Bojer. ex Hook. and now grown as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics. He was appointed Professor of Botany (1826-1832) at the Royal College in Mauritius and later Professor of Natural History and Agricultural Chemistry (1855-1856). Bojer was largely informally associated with the Pamplemousses Botanic Garden, initially assisting John White (1783-1830), as Acting Director (1848-1848) and later assisting James Duncan (1802-1876).

Also known as a naturalist, Bojer collected amphibia and was a founder member of the Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Ile Maurice and elected vice-president (1829-1856). With Louis Bouton he formed a small colonial herbarium, later incorporated into the Mauritius Institute herbarium, now the herbarium of the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MAU). Some of his original material was transferred to Kew. The plant genus Bojeria DC. in the Asteraceae was named in his honour.

Biography

Botanist from Resanice, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) which was then part of the Austrian empire, christened Vaclar Pojer and later also known as Václav, Wenzel or Wencelaus Bojer. The son of a gardener, he followed the same profession and was apprenticed on the estate of Count Caspar Maria von Sternberg. His exceptional aptitude for botany brought him to the attention of F.W. Sieber who helped Bojer gain a position in the Imperial Museum in Vienna.

Sieber organised an expedition to Madagascar and Mauritius (1821-1823), appointing Bojer as assistant to botanist K.T. Hilsenberg. Bojer returned to Mauritius in 1824 but his co-collector had died on an expedition to Madagascar. His friend Charles Telfair convinced Bojer to stay with him on the Bois Chéri estate in Mauritius and work on the floristics of Mauritius. Perhaps the most famous discovery by Bojer was Delonix regia (Hook.) Raf., originally described under the name Poinciana regia Bojer. ex Hook. and now grown as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics. He was appointed Professor of Botany (1826-1832) at the Royal College in Mauritius and later Professor of Natural History and Agricultural Chemistry (1855-1856). Bojer was largely informally associated with the Pamplemousses Botanic Garden, initially assisting John White (1783-1830), as Acting Director (1848-1848) and later assisting James Duncan (1802-1876).

Also known as a naturalist, Bojer collected amphibia and was a founder member of the Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Ile Maurice and elected vice-president (1829-1856). With Louis Bouton he formed a small colonial herbarium, later incorporated into the Mauritius Institute herbarium, now the herbarium of the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MAU). Some of his original material was transferred to Kew. The plant genus Bojeria DC. in the Asteraceae was named in his honour.