Rue Thuret

Gustave Adolphe Thuret, born May 23, 1817 in Paris and died May 10, 1875 in Nice, was a French diplomat and botanist.

He came from an old Huguenot family, which had sought refuge for some time in the Netherlands after the retreat of the Nantes Edict. His father, Isaac Thuret (1771-1852), a shipowner, banker and diplomat, consul general of Holland, owner of the Baudard de Saint-James hotel and the chateaux of Passy-sur-Seine, Rentilly and Lévis.

The family's name is the same as that of Isaac

Thuret's mother, Henrietta van der Paadevoort, had been raised in England so that English was the first language he learned, and he seems to have retained strong sympathies for Britain throughout his life. In his youth he studied law; in his spare time he was an ardent musician, and it was through his musical friend, Alexandre de Villers, that he received his first introduction to botany around 1837. Starting as a simple collector, he was soon influenced by Joseph Decaisne (1809-1882), of whom he became a disciple. It was Decaisne who first encouraged him to undertake those algological studies that were to become his principal work.

The first of his works was the study of a new type of algae

He is credited with the first observation of fucus condensation. He founded the botanical garden of the Villa Thuret in Antibes in 1857 where Charles Naudin worked and which is today a center of the INRA.