Tropical plants in Portugal and Spain

Portugal and Spain were the first countries in Europe to get in contact with Tropical Nature. Sailors, missionaries, colonial authorities, militaries, cartographers, drawers, physicians, and naturalists recorded, described, transplanted and domesticated tropical plants during more than five centuries - because of economic, practical, pedagogical and aesthetics purposes. Nineteenth century onwards, botanists have analyzed and reinterpreted this legacy, as Jacques Huber, who repeatedly expressed his admiration for several traveller naturalists. One can find part of this history in Lisbon and Madrid, preserved in Botanical Gardens.

Real Jardim Botânico da Ajuda (Lisbon, 1768)

Unfortunately, the beautiful greenhouses are not in good condition.

Jardim Botânico Tropical (former Jardim-Museu Agrícola Tropical, Lisbon, 1906)

Colonial collections and the naturalist's cabinet.

 

The monumental greenhouse is almost ruined.

 

 

 

Real Jardín Botánico (Madrid, 1755)

 

Two tropical greenhouses - the first built in 1855 and the second in the 1990s - put together a wonderful collection of Amazonian plants.

Biography of Jacques Huber: centennial celebration

Only three years ago, on the occasion of a visit to the Museu Goeldi in Belém, did I realise how influential the contributions to natural sciences and, in particular, to the botany of the Amazon, by my grandfather, Jacques Huber, have been. I am extremely happy that Nelson Sanjad, an expert in the history of research in the Amazon basin, has now been awarded a Fellowship, which enables him to deeply delve into the biography of Jacques Huber. Huber's biography might appear in 2014 - to commemorate the centennial of his death. I am sure that Nelson Sanjad's biographical studies will shed more light, and make more widely known the pioneering achievements of Swiss scientific pioneers, who had been working far away from Switzerland at the turn of the 20th century.

Martin Huber

Martin and Christine Huber at the Zoobotanical Park, Goeldi Museum, Belém, Brazil, August 2010.

Martin, Christine and Nelson Sanjad checking documents preserved at the Guilherme de La Penha Archives, Goeldi Museum, August 2010 (Photo by Anna Raquel Castro).

 Martin, Christine and Nelson taking a look at the "Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas", where biographical notes of Jacques Huber were published in 2009 by Osvaldo Cunha (Photo by Anna Raquel Castro).

Martin Huber, Katharina Steib-Geiger (granddaughter of Jacques Huber) and Nelson Sanjad, Küsnacht, Switzerland, May 2012 (Photo by Andréa Sanjad).

Looking at Huber Family album, Küsnacht, May 2012 (Photo by Andréa Sanjad).

Marcel Güntert, Andréa Sanjad, Martin Huber and the genealogical map of Huber Family.

Marcel and Nelson, Küsnacht, May 2012 (Photo by Andréa Sanjad).

Nelson Sanjad, Konrad (grandson of Jacques Huber) and Elizabetha Geiger, Martin Huber, Lugano, Switzerland, May 2012 (Photo by Andréa Sanjad).

 Konrad, Martin, Mürra Zabel and Nelson with the eyes on documents related to Jacques Huber, Lugano, May 2012 (Photo by Andréa Sanjad).