Organisation(s)
P (main), A, B, BM, BR, E, F, FI, G-DEL, GH, K, L, MO, NY, PC, PH, R, U, US, W
Biography
French colonial administrator. Son of the French lithographer Hyacinthe Aubry-Lecomte, Charles Aubry-Lecomte entered the service of the French Ministry of Naval Affairs in 1841 as a clerical officer and served in Senegal on board the steamboat Erèbe (1847-1854). Later postings were in Oceania and Pondicherry (Puducherry). Recalled to Paris in 1858, he was honoured with the title of chevalier of the Legion of Honour and made a high functionary within the department for colonial exhibitions. In this role he was responsible for creating a permanent collection of objects from the French colonies and organised the French contribution to the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna. He retired in 1879. In exchange for honours for himself and his superior, he donated more than 150 African objects from the 1878 World Exhibition in Paris to the Museum für Volkerkunde in Vienna. During his career he published a series of articles relating to the production of commodities in the French colonies: tea, coffee, sugar, cacao, cotton, textiles, and fish and seafood. His collection of plants from Gabon were described by H.E. Baillon in Adansonia.
References
Chaudhri, M.N., Vegter, H.I. & de Bary, H.A., Index Herb. Coll. I-L (1972): 524; Lanjouw, J. & Stafleu, F.A., Index Herb. Coll. A-D (1954): 45; Vegter, H.I., Index Herb. Coll. M (1976): 524;