Biography
Rafinesque was born on October 22, 1783 in Galata, a suburb of Constantinople. His father F. G. Rafinesque was a French merchant from Marseilles; his mother M. Schmaltz was of German descent and born in Constantinople. Rafinesque spent his youth in Marseilles, and was mostly self-educated, he never attended University. By the age of twelve, he had begun collecting plants for a herbarium. By fourteen, he taught himself perfect Greek and Latin because he needed to follow footnotes in the books he was reading in his grandmothers' libraries. His father died in Philadelphia about 1793. In 1802, at the age of nineteen, Rafinesque came to Philadelphia with his younger brother, and traveled through Pennsylvania and Delaware, where he made the acquaintance of most of the young nation's few botanists. In 1805 he returned to Europe with his collection of botanical specimens, and settled in Palermo, Sicily. He became so successful in trade that he could retire by age twenty-five and devote his time entirely to natural history. For a time Rafinesque also worked as secretary to the American consul. During his stay in Sicily he studied plants and fishes, naming many species of each.
Read more about this topic: Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
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