Biography
At the age of twelve he had read Robinson Crusoe and went with his uncle, a skipper, to the West-Indies. After returning from this trip he was educated as an engineer at the École des Ponts ParisTech. Then he joined the French Army and was involved in the Seven Years'War against Prussia and England. In 1768 he traveled to Mauritius and studied plants. In 1771 he became friendly with and a pupil of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Together they studied the plants in and around Paris.
In 1795 he was elected to the Institut de France, in 1797 manager of the Botanical Gardens and in 1803 member of the Académie Française.
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Saint-Pierre was a vegetarian advocate and he also practiced what he preached.
Read more about this topic: Jacques-Henri Bernardin De Saint-Pierre
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