SanjayMurugesan2221 at 19:39, 27 October 2025

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{{short description|Swiss Jesuit priest and botanist in British India (1877-1934)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Ethelbert Blatter
| birth_date = 15 December 1877
| birth_place = [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]], Switzerland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|05|26|1877|12|15|df=y}}
| death_place = St. Vincent's High School, [[Pune]], British India
| fields = Botany
| workplaces = [[St Xavier's College, Bombay]]
| known_for = Pioneering botanist in British India
| awards = [[Johannes Bruehl]] Memorial Medal (1932)
| author_abbrev_bot = Blatter
}}
[[File:Ethelbert blatter2.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Ethelbert Blatter, [[Society of Jesus|SJ]] pioneering taxonomist of the flora of the [[Indian subcontinent]].]]
'''Ethelbert Blatter''' (15 December 1877 – 26 May 1934) was a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[Jesuit]] priest and pioneering botanist in [[British India]]. Author of five books and over sixty papers on the flora of the [[Indian subcontinent]], he was Principal and Professor of Botany at [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai|St Xavier College]], [[Bombay]] and vice-president of the [[Bombay Natural History Society]]. In 1932 he became the first recipient of the [[Paul Johannes Brühl|Johannes Bruehl]] Memorial Medal of the [[Asiatic Society of Bengal]].<ref name=mccann>McCann, C. 1934. "Ethelbert Blatter, S.J." ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society,'' xxxvii(2):465-473.</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Ethelbert Blatter.jpg|left|thumb]]
Blatter was born in the [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] of [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]] in northeastern [[Switzerland]] in a region near Mount [[Säntis]]. Having lost his father at an early age, he was raised by an uncle, a popular doctor in the municipality of [[Rebstein]] in the neighboring [[Canton of St. Gallen]]. The young Blatter lived in his uncle's home, a castle overlooking Rebstein and located in the [[Rhine]] valley just before the river's union with [[Lake Constance]] (Bodensee). After finishing elementary education in Rebstein, Blatter attended middle school in [[Sarnen]], the capital of the [[Canton of Obwalden]], in [[Central Switzerland]]. His classmates at Sarnen remembered him as not only brilliant in every subject, but also a high-spirited companion with a reputation for pranks. After Sarnen, Blatter went on to have a brilliant career in high school in [[Schwyz]], capital of the [[Canton of Schwyz]], northeast of the canton of Obwalden. In October 1896, after finishing high school, Blatter moved to the border town of [[Feldkirch, Vorarlberg|Feldkirch]], [[Austria]] to join the Noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus. Since German Jesuits were in exile under [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]], Blatter moved to the Netherlands in 1898 to first pursue classical studies and then study philosophy in the college of [[Valkenburg aan de Geul]] in the southernmost province of [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]]. Around this time, he also developed an interest in botany and attended many scientific conferences in [[Europe]].<ref name=mccann/>

==India I==
In 1903, Blatter moved to India and was appointed Professor of Botany at [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai|St Xavier's College Bombay]]. The following year, he joined the [[Bombay Natural History Society]] (BNHS) and began to contribute articles, the first of which was "The Fauna and Flora of Our Metallic Money," an article which (somewhat humorously) catalogued the microorganisms commonly found on various coins in India.<ref>Blatter, E. 1905. "The Fauna and Flora of our Metallic Money". ''Journal Bombay Natural Hist. Soc.'' xvi:334-339.</ref> In pursuit of his researches, Blatter traveled extensively within India. His most important contributions from this time were a series of articles written between 1904 and 1909 (although published later) and titled, ''The [[Arecaceae|Palms]] of [[British India]] and [[Ceylon]], Indigenous and Introduced''. The articles were subsequently published in book form by [[Oxford University Press]].<ref>Blatter, E. 1926. ''The Palms of British India and Ceylon''. Oxford University Press. pp. xxviii, 600, 106 plates.</ref>

==Theological studies in Europe==
Returning to Europe in 1909, Blatter chose to complete his theological studies in [[Hastings]], [[South East England]], where exiled Jesuits from two French provinces had opened a school of theology. During this time, Blatter also spent much time researching and compiling his papers, ''Flora of Aden'',<ref>Blatter, E. 1907, 1908. "The Flora of Aden." ''Journ. Bombay Natural Hist. Soc.'', xvii:895-920, xviii:54-68.</ref> at the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanic Gardens]] in [[Kew]]. Ordained as a priest on 25 August 1912, Blatter spent another year in the Netherlands, before returning to London to compile data for his next effort, ''Flora Arabica''.<ref>Blatter, E. 1919-1923. "Flora Arabica." ''Rec. Bot. Surv. India'', viii:1-450.</ref> Still in London when Great War broke out, Blatter booked his passage to India on a Japanese boat. Despite facing rifle fire from Turkish soldiers in the Suez Canal, the ship's journey was mostly uneventful, and Blatter arrived in Bombay in October 1915.<ref name=mccann/>

==India II==
Returning to his position as professor of botany at St Xavier's, Blatter expended great energy during the next few years both traveling and building an extensive botanical collection. Consequently, St. Xavier's College had one of the best herbaria in Western India during those years. He was appointed principal of the college in 1919, retaining his professorial chair until 1924. He also became a prominent member of Bombay University Senate, and played a major role in influencing later university reforms.<ref name=mccann/>

In 1925 Blatter retired to [[Panchgani]] as parish priest, and began to focus more on his botanical studies. His series of papers with [[W.S. Millard]] titled, ''Some Beautiful Indian Trees'' were published around this time. These papers too resulted in a book of the same name, a classic, still in print.{{sfn|Blatter|Millard|1954}} Other books pertaining to India from this time were the two-volume ''Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir'' (1927, 1928);<ref>Blatter, Ethelbert. 1927, 1928. ''Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir''. John Bale Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. London. vol. i pp. xv, 198, 33 coloured plates. vol. ii pp. xv, 204, 31 coloured plates.</ref> ''The Flora of the Indus Delta'' (with [[Charles McCann]] and T. S. Sabnis, 1929);<ref>Blatter, E., F. Hallberg, and C. McCann. 1929. ''The Flora of the Indus Delta''. Methodist Publishing House, Madras. pp 173, 37 plates.</ref> and ''The Ferns of Bombay'' (with J. F. D'Almeida, 1932).<ref>Blatter, E. and J. F. D'Almeida. 1932. ''The Ferns of Bombay.'' D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay. pp. vii, 228, 15 plates.</ref> The following year he was elected vice-president of BNHS.

In 1930, during an expedition to [[Waziristan]], a political agency in the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]] of British India,<ref name=IGI-vol24>"Waziristan, North" and "Waziristan, South." 1908. In ''[[Imperial Gazetteer of India]]'', vol 24, pp. 379-384.</ref> Blatter had a bad fall from a horse, and the resulting injuries brought on a partial paralysis. From that point onwards, his health began to fail. In 1932. in recognition of his botanical work, Fr. Blatter received the first Johannes Bruehl Memorial Medal of the [[Asiatic Society of Bengal]] for "Conspicuous Important contributions to the knowledge of Asiatic Botany."<ref name=mccann/>

Fr. Ethelbert Blatter died on 26 May 1934 at [[St. Vincent's High School]], [[Pune]].

== Selected publications ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Blatter|first1=Ethelbert|last2=Millard|first2=Walter Samuel|authorlink1=Ethelbert Blatter|author-link2=Walter Samuel Millard|title=Some Beautiful Indian Trees|date=1954|orig-date=1937|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Bombay Natural History Society]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U660AAAAIAAJ|isbn= 978-0195621624}}
{{refend}}

{{botanist|Blatt.|Blatter}}

==See also==
* [[Bombay Natural History Society]]
* [[Walter Samuel Millard]]
* [[Blatter Herbarium]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.org/details/fernsofbombay00blatiala The Ferns of Bombay (scanned book)]
* [https://archive.org/details/BeautifulFlowersKashmir1 Beautiful Flowers of Kashmir. Volume 1 (1927)] [https://archive.org/details/beautifulflowers032840mbp Volume 2 (1928)]
* [https://archive.org/details/BombayGrasses Blatter, E; Charles McCann (1935) Bombay grasses. ICAR, Delhi.]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blatter, Ethelbert}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Swiss botanists]]
[[Category:Swiss Jesuits]]
[[Category:Naturalists from British India]]
[[Category:Catholic clergy scientists]]
[[Category:Jesuit scientists]]
[[Category:People from Appenzell Innerrhoden]]
[[Category:20th-century Swiss botanists]]
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Natural History Society]]

Ethelbert Blatter - Revision history

SanjayMurugesan2221 at 19:39, 27 October 2025