Residence France Nationality French | Name Henri Gaussen Fields Botany, Geography | |
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Born 14 July 1891
Cabrieres-d'Aigues ( 1891-07-14 ) Died July 27, 1981, Toulouse, France | ||
Marcel-Henri Gaussen (14 July 1891 in Cabrières-d'Aigues (Vaucluse) - 27 July 1981 in Toulouse), was a French botanist and biogeographer.
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In 1926, he defended his thesis on "the vegetation of the eastern half of the Pyrenees", which laid the foundation for future work on the border between biogeography and vegetation mapping. Gaussen was an early advocate of the ideas of stages and vegetation succession, which are fundamental to phytogeography. His work allowed for the production of a vegetation map of France at a scale of 1/200 000 (completed after his death by the service of the CNRS, but which he had created and directed) and many similar projects in other countries. His work led to many advanced phytogeographic tools such as "Gaussen index", the "xerothermic index" and "ombrothermic diagram ". As recognition for his scientific work in mapping of vegetation cover and ecology, he received in 1971 the Grand Prix of the Geographical Society for geographical research and publications.
He was also responsible for the creation in 1922 of the Arboretum de Jouéou, and for the strength and reputation of teaching and research in botany at the University of Toulouse. A great traveller, he was also the creator of a science section at the French Institute of Pondicherry. He worked with Flora Europaea as a regional adviser for France.
Henri Gaussen spent his entire career as a professor at Toulouse, where he was also in 1958 elected as a "mainteneur" (council member) of the Académie des Jeux floraux.
Having accumulated an impressive number of personal photographs, he donated his collection to the archives of the department of Haute-Garonne, where they can still be viewed.