Biography

French naval doctor and botanist Clovis Thorel made some of the first significant botanical collections in Southeast Asia, where he was employed by the French colonial government.

Thorel was born at Vers-Hébécourt in the Somme region, where his grandfather farmed and his father worked in a cotton factory. Thorel, however, was attracted to the study of medicine and botany. Following this path he spent several years training to be a physician and aged 22 began work at the hospital in Amiens, at which time his father died. His mother also died a few years later, in 1861, after which Thorel joined the French navy as an assistant surgeon, immediately being posted to Cochinchina (Vietnam). A year on, he was appointed to the French colony's board of health, being based at the hospital in Saigon.

Meanwhile, Clovis' interest in botany grew and he worked on compiling a flora of Cochinchina. His reputation as a botanist subsequently led to his appointment in 1865 to the colonial agricultural and industrial committee, and in 1866 as a member of the Commission d'exploration du Mékong.

The exploration mission, led by naval officers E.D. de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, gave Thorel the opportunity to gather plants along a great stretch of the Mekong River over the next two years. The expedition party included naval sublieutenant Louis Delaporte, diplomat Louis de Carné, geologist and naval doctor Eugène Joubert and a photographer named Gsell, alongside local assistants and several soldiers. The main objective was to explore the unknown parts of the Mekong River in the hope it would be navigable into China and possibly serve as a trade route into that country. The mission was a disappointment in terms of this aim, as rapids prevented all but the smallest vessels from traversing much of the river's course and a major barrier presented itself in the form of the Khone Falls near the current Cambodia-Laos border.

No opportunities for a commercial route to China were realised on the expedition, and once the party finally reached China's Yunnan Province, they did not travel further than Jinghong due to sickness and political obstacles. Lagrée passed away in March 1868 and the expedition was led back to Saigon in June that year by Garnier.

In terms of exploration and scientific observations, the expedition was very successful, mapping the Mekong from the sea to southwestern China for the first time in addition to charting the surrounding area (covering some 6,700km). Reports were published in 1873 in four magnificently presented volumes, with contributions from Thorel covering agriculture, botany and ethnography in the region. He had also amassed a considerable herbarium and taken copious notes on other aspects of natural history along the route.

In recognition of his work, Thorel was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1868, after he had returned to France. In Paris, two years later, he defended his doctoral thesis, which was based on medical observations he had made on the Mekong expedition. As well as listing common diseases found in the region of the river, the thesis described plants used as medicines by the indigenous populations.

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Thorel was once more on active service in the navy, but he left in 1871 to start a medical practice in Passy, where he settled with his new wife. He eventually published a flora of Indochina in collaboration with the curator of the Saigon Botanical Garden, Louis Pierre, and presented his herbarium to the Paris Museum of Natural History in 1906.

After spending his final years studying the thermal properties of the springs at Bagnole de l'Orne, Thorel died there in 1911. Several plants from Southeast Asia are named in his honour, including the genera Thorelia Gagnep., Neothorelia Gagnep. and Thoreldora Pierre. Species named after him include Nepenthes thorelii Lecomte.

Sources:
F. Gagnepain, 1911, Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France, 58: 523-528
M. Osborne, 2004, "Lagrée-Garnier Mekong Expedition", in K. Gin Ooi, Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia, 1: 763-764.

Biography

French naval doctor and botanist Clovis Thorel made some of the first significant botanical collections in Southeast Asia, where he was employed by the French colonial government.

Thorel was born at Vers-Hébécourt in the Somme region, where his grandfather farmed and his father worked in a cotton factory. Thorel, however, was attracted to the study of medicine and botany. Following this path he spent several years training to be a physician and aged 22 began work at the hospital in Amiens, at which time his father died. His mother also died a few years later, in 1861, after which Thorel joined the French navy as an assistant surgeon, immediately being posted to Cochinchina (Vietnam). A year on, he was appointed to the French colony's board of health, being based at the hospital in Saigon.

Meanwhile, Clovis' interest in botany grew and he worked on compiling a flora of Cochinchina. His reputation as a botanist subsequently led to his appointment in 1865 to the colonial agricultural and industrial committee, and in 1866 as a member of the Commission d'exploration du Mékong.

The exploration mission, led by naval officers E.D. de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, gave Thorel the opportunity to gather plants along a great stretch of the Mekong River over the next two years. The expedition party included naval sublieutenant Louis Delaporte, diplomat Louis de Carné, geologist and naval doctor Eugène Joubert and a photographer named Gsell, alongside local assistants and several soldiers. The main objective was to explore the unknown parts of the Mekong River in the hope it would be navigable into China and possibly serve as a trade route into that country. The mission was a disappointment in terms of this aim, as rapids prevented all but the smallest vessels from traversing much of the river's course and a major barrier presented itself in the form of the Khone Falls near the current Cambodia-Laos border.

No opportunities for a commercial route to China were realised on the expedition, and once the party finally reached China's Yunnan Province, they did not travel further than Jinghong due to sickness and political obstacles. Lagrée passed away in March 1868 and the expedition was led back to Saigon in June that year by Garnier.

In terms of exploration and scientific observations, the expedition was very successful, mapping the Mekong from the sea to southwestern China for the first time in addition to charting the surrounding area (covering some 6,700km). Reports were published in 1873 in four magnificently presented volumes, with contributions from Thorel covering agriculture, botany and ethnography in the region. He had also amassed a considerable herbarium and taken copious notes on other aspects of natural history along the route.

In recognition of his work, Thorel was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1868, after he had returned to France. In Paris, two years later, he defended his doctoral thesis, which was based on medical observations he had made on the Mekong expedition. As well as listing common diseases found in the region of the river, the thesis described plants used as medicines by the indigenous populations.

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Thorel was once more on active service in the navy, but he left in 1871 to start a medical practice in Passy, where he settled with his new wife. He eventually published a flora of Indochina in collaboration with the curator of the Saigon Botanical Garden, Louis Pierre, and presented his herbarium to the Paris Museum of Natural History in 1906.

After spending his final years studying the thermal properties of the springs at Bagnole de l'Orne, Thorel died there in 1911. Several plants from Southeast Asia are named in his honour, including the genera Thorelia Gagnep., Neothorelia Gagnep. and Thoreldora Pierre. Species named after him include Nepenthes thorelii Lecomte.

Sources:
F. Gagnepain, 1911, Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France, 58: 523-528
M. Osborne, 2004, "Lagrée-Garnier Mekong Expedition", in K. Gin Ooi, Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia, 1: 763-764.