PREVOST Christian
Historical Commission
PERIGNY 17180 (FRANCE)
Bonpland: THE PASSAGE OF A FREE MAN
Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858) never hesitated to cross the boundaries of a territory or reach the limits of freedom. It is the idea defended by Eric who has been Courthès-Blier "Journey without return of Aimé Bonpland, explorer La Rochelle" (1) and "Pas-sages of a free man" (2). The opportunity is it offered to the reader to go the footsteps of Aimé Bonpland who appears both as a savvy traveler, a man of ac-tion to the multifaceted and an inspiration for the generations that succeeded it. A wise traveler
Aimé Bonpland was always on the move: "I was born for many adventures, travels and discoveries ... "(3). It appears as the "tree traveler who carries, with or without roots, a land to the other" (4). Not surprisingly, under these conditions, Courthès Eric has used the image of Che-not to describe each stage life of Aimé Bonpland. So is there for her youth and adolescence that occur while the hero is "perched in an oak Rochelle (5). Similarly, feeling his end would come, he will "die peacefully in the shade of trees" (6). It is in this way that Courthès Eric invites the reader to discover his book that is not a history book on the life and work of Aimé Bonpland but a "novel" (7) where the real and imagination are closely intertwined (8).
From the 1790s, Aimé Bonpland left his hometown of La Rochelle to Paris where he began medical school as his brother Michael Simon (1770-1850). But the former student of the Royal College of La Rochelle was to remember the lesson of Montaigne: "... the travel seems a profitable exercise. The soul is a continual exercitant to notice an unknown and new things ... "(9). With a dual civilian and military training as a doctor he met in 1798, Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) with whom he explored South America between 1799 and 1804 (10). Then, during the Napoleonic period, he settled in Paris and its region, except for some traveling in a private or official. In a word, it ceases to run the world (11). But from 1816 he becomes traveler (12). Friend of Bolivar and, more generally, "Libertadores", supporters of the independence of South American countries, he travels to countries in the "Southern Cone" (stretching from Brazil to Argentina), he travels by horse, mule or boat - Type "Chalana" (13).
arrived in Buenos Aires January 18, 1817, he resents the atmosphere that prevails there. Also, the "Professor of Natural History of the United Provinces" - a title he won - (14) he quickly took the decision to move to the interior. So it goes 1. settle the border of Argentina and Paraguay. At Candelaria, he spotted a "sea-
pilot plantation" (15) which he wants to make a model of "industry, order and prosperity will" (16). But
Candelaria is located on the territory of Paraguay, State of South American area, which was the first proclaimed its independence but is directed in 1814 by the dictator Francia. Closing his country to foreigners, it's going to retain power Aimé Bonpland to be under house arrest for more than nine years in Santa Maria de Fe Even if he could go to the nearby town of Ytapuá (17), can we conclude he lived in a "gilded prison in Paraguay" (18)? Only the romantic fiction can tell.
Obviously Aime Bonpland was much freer in his movements from when he left Paraguay. Once crossed the Uruguay River, it lies in the province of Rio Grande do Sul in the extreme south of Brazil where it will operate a property in San Juan Mini (19). But his knowledge ground, coupled with a political meaning obvious, leads quickly to reconnect with Argentina. Thus, in September 1837, he acquired a property in Santa Ana in the province of Corrientes (20).
Throughout this period, many trips Aimé Bonpland does not prevent the Emperor, to write: the Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Museum of Botany and Pharmacology of Buenos Aires in particular, possess numerous documents he had written between 1831 and 1857.
His best known works are related to mate (21). For decades, he con-tinue to be interested this plant (22) and, more generally, anything that relates to tannin-bo:
- in 1849, when he is sixty-six, he enjoys collecting plants while he found in the farm of his friend Don Pedro Chaves located in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul (23);
- seven years later, he reports a shipment to Uruguay plant samples as described in his " Journal of Botany "(24).
A MAN OF ACTION WITH MANY FACETS
Aimé Bonpland personality has been shaped both by culture of the eighteenth century ᵉ and the profit he has learned from his close relationship with Alexander von Humboldt (25).
According to researcher Eduardo G. Ottone (26), Bonpland is in line with clopédistes encyclopaedias of the eighteenth century as ᵉ Augustus Saint-Hilaire or Alcide d'Orbigny: "... these men bore a particular interest in various aspects of science such as physical as , chemistry, astronomy, biology, paleontology and archeology. The naturalist traveler observed nature as a whole and in its entirety. He described and brings together forty Blaite all kinds of rocks and minerals. It botanizing collection of exotic plants and seeds to milk the botanical gardens European but also hunted birds, reptiles, insects and mammals and fish he was fishing in order to be prepared and exhibited in the windows of European museums as if they were alive ... "
2. Aimé Bonpland
studied medicine in line with family tradition. But attending the Paris intellectual of the 1790s, it gradually will look to other disciplines such as botany.
Furthermore, having known from spring 1798, Alexander von Humboldt has could widen the scope of its knowledge:
- Humboldt acquired the ideas of freedom and progress of the "Enlightenment" equiva-lent of the German "Enlightenment". In addition, the Rhine, the impor-tance of any terms when the nature and phenomena first (27);
- by his mother, he has Scottish and French ancestry that favored the 'hatch-ing his vast culture
- he gained a solid knowledge that would have allowed for a successful career as a mining engineer in the Prussian administration.
Equipped with numerous instruments Scientific, Bonpland and Humboldt will have the opportunity to compare and apply their knowledge at the outset of their expedition in South America. So they planned to establish, "by astronomical observations mic" (28), where the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers meet. But it is possible to cite many other examples of subjects (29) and Humboldt and Bonpland were apprehended on the ground, then studied: 
- plant and animal species (monkeys of the orchid);
- the mountains and In particular, the volcanoes such as Chimborazo. Hence their slow dis- studies on tiering phytogeography of the vegetation, which constitute as many innovations were killing at the time; - ocean currents (like "Humboldt") without forgetting the first sketches of the channel Panana; - plant and animal species (monkeys of the orchid); 
- the materials such as guano which Buffon had already interested. Thus, Humboldt and Bonpland were they the pioneers who have made progress on disciplines such as botany and earth sciences. But while Humboldt-mained of an intellectual aura of prestige, Bonpland has always preferred to act in practical man: he proved being for decades, both physician and farmer (30).
From the time of shipment to South America, Aimé Bonpland apply their medical knowledge (31): this will be very useful for himself and his companions faced the rigors of travel of climate and vegetation. Subsequently, it is recognized, Paraguay, like a doctor treating patients or practice of midwifery "(...) it was soon all the doors of the houses that opened to me, and I gave birth I advised parturients ... "(32). Hu-man skills multiple, it produces a balsam from the bark of a tree (cayana citrullifolia) who had to hold his attention as a botanist. It is understandable that under these conditions over time, Aimé Bonpland became a respected man even though he remained under strict containment (33). From the time he settled in Candelaria, Aimé Bonpland is also a farmer who succeeds rather well. This will be verified later, Sao Borja (Brazil) and Santa Ana (Argentina): 3.
- from the time of Paraguay it had reached a certain ease. Its property and cattle reached a level such that it took a year to settle everything he owned in the area of Ytapuá. Had this not been the case, how could he buy property in Brazil?
- in 1837, he has problems in Brazil (Brazilian troops having em-adorned his cattle). He then left the country to win Argentina where, thanks to Pedro Ferré, former governor of the province of Corrientes, it acquires a prop-erty of 13 500 hectares in Santa Ana. It was then the head of a flock of 5000 merino and several hundred cattle and horses;
- a new twist of fate struck in 1839. He has to leave Argentina and Uruguay to settle in especially since the Argentine province of Entre Rios (Mesopotamia between the rivers Parana and Uruguay) imposes a severe requisition.
However, whatever its primary activity at any given time, a naturalist Aime Bonpland remains multidisciplinary.
During his many travels in the "Southern Cone", it sends the Museum of natural his-re in Paris, credit unions, as appropriate, contained samples of plants and trees but also embalmed birds, rocks or fossils. Thus, being in 1840 in the Brazilian region of Porto Alegre, he does not hesitate to rede-coming "Bonpland the explorer and naturalist (34).
Meanwhile, Aimé Bonpland interested in other human activities. While at first his language skills were very limited, he began to learn English and the Guarani language "in a few months, I endorse this wonderful language that is the Guarani '(35). In addition, he will write about it in "Notes on the language of the Indians" (36).
In another vein, Aimé Bonpland will not escape the vortex of political life in South America. Despite the difficulties this will cause him - under the management of its affairs - he defends the cause of local leaders who fought against the power holders, particularly in Buenos Aires and Rio de JANEI-ro. Maybe that he had even thought of an alliance that would have met the geographical Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios and the "Eastern Band", ie, Uruguay origins.
man of action, Aimé Bonpland was not devoid of idealism when it came to defending cause he considered just.
AN INSPIRATION FOR GENERATIONS TO HAVE SUCCEEDED
The researcher Julio Contrera Rafael Roque (37) were more than five hundred references related to Aimé Bonpland. From the nineteenth century appear ᵉ biographies about him, which will be supplemented by many works during the following decades. Moreover, at a much later period, he served as a guideline for a play by Ibsen Martinez and to "free area", a film by Luis Armando Roche. It is within this context that fits the novel by Eric Courthès who traveled to the biography at ro-4. historic man or the story from beyond the grave (38), involves several literary genres. But for the author, the journey to the land of Bonpland will always be a "symphony-ina chevée. Indeed, he worked on various projects such as performing a comic book in collaboration with the designer Paraguayan Carlos Meyer.
If, ultimately, Eric Courthès so interested in Aimé Bonpland, it results in both of his "passion almost symbiotic" against him (39) and as the importance, in the naturalistic origin of La Rochelle, of all that relates to freedom (40): "... it was very hu-man passages, both geographic and Crossings scientific or historical and a few politicians (...) after his exploits Amazonian and Paraguayan his confinement, he was a free spirit in perpetual motion that neither wars nor friends - much less the enemy - or the many loves, or even the absence probably painful of his own children, could not stop ... "(41). Moreover, the cult of liberty has always near Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt, who declared in his will: "... what happened to me the most expensive and one can not deprive me is the feeling of freedom that will follow me to the grave! ... "(42).
NOTES (1) Eric Courthès, Journey without return of Aimé Bonpland, explorer La Rochelle, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2010, 185 pages, (2) Eric Courthès, The Passages of a free man, article on site "web" of L'Harmattan, Paris, 2010, 14 pages, (3) Eric Courthès, work cited, page 143, (4) Eric Courthès, cit, p. 157 (the image of the 'tree-traveler "is taken by Cedric Cerruti in his afterword to the novel by Eric Courthès [cf. pp. 173-175]), (5) Eric Courthès, final chapter of the work cited, pp. 165-171, (6) Eric Courthès on page 9 and penultimate chapter in the book cited (pp. 161-163), (7) The book by Eric Courthès bears the subtitle "novel" (cf . page 5) (8) In her afterword, the book describes Cedric Cerruti Eric Courthès both "historical novel" and "romance" (see page 175); (9) Montaigne, Oeuvres completes, Paris, Gallimard (La Pléiade), 1962, page 951; (10) Eric Couth devotes a chapter of his book to the expedition in South America when he recalls the journey of Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt "of the Orinoco to the Amazon" (see work cited, pp. 17-25) 5. (11) In the article cited above, Eric Aime Bonpland Courthès qualifies as "dromoma-nia," in other words, a hero who, like the Greek athlete, experiences the need to undertake ever race (dromos) (see Eric Courthès, referenced article on page 2), (12) "I dream of a new beginning ... the sea air that I breathe is again borrowing Freedom "(see Eric Courthès, cit, pp. 34-35);
(13) In early 1856, leaving him only about two years to live, Bon-Aime goes in search Plan D of "an alleged mercury mine" by taking the flat-bottomed boat (called "Chalana") that the governor of Corrientes Pujol had put at his disposal (see Eric Courthès, cit, p. 148); (14) Eric Courthès, work cited, page 39; (15) Aimé Bonpland will do anything to enhance the planting of Candelaria who took com-12 500 feet of material (see Eric Courthès, book cited on page 48), (16) Nicolas Hossard, Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858), physician, naturalist, explorer in South America, Editions L'Harmattan, Paris, 2001, p. 69; (17) Ytapuá corresponds to the Current city of Encarnación; (18) Eric Courthès, cit, "My gilded prison in Paraguay," pp. 53-68; (19) "On a three-hectare site, I plant more than 1,500 orange trees, I take culture and the study of that material in these regions occurs almost naturally. Moult I plant vegetables and fruits "(cf. Eric Courthès, work cited, page 70) (20) Nicolas Hossard cites a letter dated Aimé Bonpland March 2, 1837 about his property in Santa Ana: 'I' there will in a new Malmaison "(see work cited, page 122), (21) The material, called as Paraguay tea, is a variety of holly with leaves, infused in hot water, provide a stimulating drink. Aimé Bonpland examined the material from 1818 and named in memory of his friend, "ilex humboldiana" rather than resorting to the official designation of "ilex paraguayensis" (cf. Eric Courthès, cit , pages 40 and 42) (22) In a letter sent on 1 June 1832, Alexander von Humboldt, Bon-Aime Plan D wrote: "(...) I have much to say about the Paraguay tea and geography This valuable plant ... " (Cf. Nicolas Hossard, Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Good Plan D - Correspondence 1805-1858, Editions L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, page 84), (23) "I discovered this wonderful opportunity to orchids, which completed my neck -selection (...) good surprises in botany did not stop there, I de-also covers rare trees, that lined my path (...) the surrounding moun-tain ownership of my friend was full indeed picadas of [tracks, walking paths through the forest], lined with trees and flowers such incredible that I had never seen ... "(Eric Courthès, book cited on page 133) 6. (24) "I bring this successful expedition made a new aquatic genus Centaurea, a copy of Saint-Antoine in yellow flowers of the genus Convolvulus, and especially a local species of water lilies (very abundant and stronger and stronger than those of Corrientes ), with beautiful blue flowers of the genus Pontederia (...) I m'empres-to make them dry in my press card stock and the usual de-scribe precisely my inseparable Journal of Botany, containing about 3 000 specimens collected throughout my many travels ... " (Cf. Eric Courthès, work cited, page 152), (25) Correspondence that Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt have traded for over fifty years demonstrated (cf. Nicolas Hossard, Correspondence ..., work cited above ) (26) Eric Courthès, The Passages of a freeman, article cited, page 4 (27) "Of all his work is probably the Essay on the Geography of Plants of fre-the Essence of Humboldt's thought. Inspired by his childhood trips, by debut between vitalistic and mechanistic interpretations of nature, Humboldt has received much encouragement from his correspondence with Goethe. Already in 1790, Goethe published Die Metamorphose der Planzen (The Metamorphosis of Plants), where he argues that the humanist could Orpheus - as well as the learned scientist - reveal the secrets of plants. Goethe also emphasized the primordial origin of all vegetable forms, the Urphanomen (a phenomenon first), a notion which Humboldt thought believable ... "(See excerpt from a lecture by Anne Buttimer's University College of Du-blin); (28) Eric Courthès, work cited, page 23; (29) Even if Eric Courthès devotes an entire chapter of his book (cf. pp. 17-35), exploring the Amazon basin and the Orinoco is only part of the expedition of Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt in the years 1799-1804; (30) "I'm still of the medical practice, but mostly on agriculture a large scale ... "(Cf. Nicolas Hossard, Correspondence ..., cit, letter Bonpland in Humboldt dated September 2, 1855) (31)" (...) my soul doctor condemns me does not bring relief to our friends and our enemies, the same heart? ... "More than any other passage in the book, the chapter dedicated to Eric Courthès Island Leper illustrates the great attention Aime Bonpland has always paid to others (cf. Eric Courthès, work cited, page 95 and chapter pp . 81-90); (32) Eric Courthès, work cited, page 59; (33) "Using indigenous knowledge, I discovered the antidote to the bites of serpents, I relieved the many rheumatic patients, in short, I became their eyes Carai Arandu, the Grand Savant in Guarani, 'the man with the light in his mind' ... "(See Eric Courthès, work cited, page 59), 7. (34) "... a dream kept hidden to resurface (...) I spent another two months collecting plants in the Serra de Santa Cruz, I classify 'petusias, Mutisya, Nicotiana amarilis, begonias, valerian, milastomas, ilex bromeliads, Canas, Laurel, I filled pages and pages of my book diagnoses, sketches feverish all these plants, with descriptions in Latin, and notes in the margin in French and in English ... "(See Eric Courthès, work cited, page 135), (35) Is" Guarani "everything that relates to the Indians of Paraguay (36) Eric Courthès, work cited, page 48 and footnote 3 below page, (37) Eric Courthès Les Passages a man book, article cited on page 9, (38) The fact that Aimé Bonpland died, May 11, 1858, at the Passage of freemen (Paso de los Libres) Argentina reinforces the symbolism related to the notion of "ford" ("pa-na") separating the world of the living and the dead. Courthès Eric describes them as a diptych that striking back like a leitmotif (see work cited, page 16: "... since my death, I am living through this book that is sent to you ..." and page 68: "... crossing the big black river, my river Styx to me, I spent the Kingdom of the Living Dead that ..."); (39) In his meeting with Frederick Zabalza, journalist "South West", Eric Courthès says: "... I wrote this biography in the first. It's a little memory that could have written ... "(See October 22, 2010 edition, page 24 d), (40) South America has always been, for Aimé Bonpland, the land of freedom. That's why in 1816 he left France for ever in the Southern Hemisphere "(...) I was, for the first time in my life, along a border that did not allow himself crossing point, the first serious obstacle in a series of journeys and travel on this wonderful continent where the password was Liberty! ... "(See Eric Courthès, work cited, page 67), (41) Eric Courthès, article cited, page 12, (42) Nicolas Hossard, Aimé Bonpland ... ouvrage cité, page 157. -------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------- --------------------- 8.
0 comments:
Post a Comment