Biography

Léon Humblot, French naturalist and colonial businessman, was active in the Comoro Islands in the late 19th century. Sent by the Paris Museum of Natural History in 1883 as part of a geographical survey, orchid specialist Humblot landed in the Comoros (in the Mozambique Channel) in 1884. The following year he procured the signing of a treaty by the Sultan of Bambao, putting in place the Grande Comore protectorate. By 1886 there was therefore overall French rule in the Comoros, covering Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mayotte and Moheli.

Humblot, meanwhile, established himself at Angasiza, Grande Comore Island, and set up a colonial company overseeing several plantations, farms and processing plants for perfumes and spices. He was named Resident in 1889, relinquishing the title in 1896 after the French government found his conduct to be corrupt. A scandal over his unfair practices in Grande Comore erupted in the French Parliament in 1912 and the Comoros were made an official colony.

While in the Comoros Humblot collected botanical specimens which he sent to Alfred Grandidier (1836-1921), author of Histoire naturelle de Madagascar (1898-1905). The herbarium of the Paris Museum of Natural History also received specimens from Humblot between 1881 and 1904, including about 1,300 vascular plant specimens. In addition he collected birds and insects.

Sources:
R. Aldrich, 1996, Greater France: A history of overseas expansion: 66-67
G. Sayre, 1975, "Cryptogamae Exsiccatae: an annotated bibliography of exsiccatae of algae, lichens, hepaticae, and musci. V. Unpublished Exsiccatae: I. Collectors", Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, 19(3): 346-347.