From Today in Science History:
Charles de L’Écluse (a.k.a. Carolus Clusius). Born 19 Feb 1526; died 4 Apr 1609. French botanist who introduced the tulip to Holland. He travelled and collected botanical information throughout Europe, and introduced new plants from outside Europe. Leaving France to escape religious persecution as a Protestant, he spent time in Prague and Vienna. Late in life, in 1593, he succeeded Dodoens as the chair of botany at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He established the botanical garden there and grew a collection of flowering bulbs, including the tulip which initiated the Dutch bulb industry. He is also attributed with cultivating the peony, hyacinth, potato and chestnut.
- A further biography here.
- Clusius in Books and Prints from Leiden University.
- See the Clusius Project at Leiden University.
- An index (pdf) to his digitized letters at Leiden University Library.
- Carolus Clusius : towards a cultural history of a Renaissance naturalist, from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- The website (Dutch) for Hortus Botanicus Leiden, and the Wikipedia entry.
(Image from Leiden University Library)
