1699-1777

French physician-botanist who was one of three brothers, all botanists, The brothers along with their descendants made major contributions to the field of plant science over at least four generations. Bernard accompanied his elder brother Antoine on a botanizing expedition to Spain in 1716. He received his M.D. at Montpellier University in 1720. In 1722 he was appointed Sub-Demonstrator of Plants at the Jardins du Roi in Paris, later becoming its director. In 1725 he was made a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the same year in which his History of the Plants of the Environs of Paris was published. In 1737 the Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus named the plant genus Jussieua in his honor. Jussieu was invited to become founding superintendent of the royal gardens at the Petit Trianon at Versailles in 1759. His arrangement of the gardens there was based on Linnaean principles. Jussieu published a natural classification of plants, based upon his study of plant embryos. It was later revised by Antoine de Jussieu, his nephew and successor at the Jardins du Roi, who went on to develop a new system.