Name Andre Thouin | Role Botanist | |
 | ||
Died October 24, 1824, Paris, France | ||
André Thouin (10 February 1746 – 24 October 1824) was a French botanist born in Paris. His younger brother, Gabriel Thouin (1747–1829), was a noted landscape architect.
He studied botany under Bernard de Jussieu, and in 1793 attained the chair of horticulture at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. He was a good friend of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, and the godfather of Jean Baptiste Lamarck's son Andre. He is denoted by the author abbreviation Thouin when citing a botanical name.
Thouin is remembered for contributions made in the field of agronomy, including scientific studies that involved improved grafting techniques and seed selection. He was a pioneer conservationist, stressing the importance of replacing woodlands to compensate for their destruction due to human encroachment.
The plat genus Thouinia (family Sapindaceae) is named after him. As a taxonomist he described the genus Celanthera (1786; family Marattiaceae).