Louis-Ovide Brunet

Louis-Ovide Brunet, born on March 10, 1826, in Quebec City, was a distinguished French-Canadian botanist and Roman Catholic priest. He was the son of Jean-Olivier Brunet, a merchant, and Cécile Lagueux. His educational journey began at the Séminaire de Québec in 1844, culminating in his ordination on October 10, 1848. For the next decade, Brunet served various roles within the church, including missionary, curate, and parish priest.

In 1858, following the departure of his mentor, Abbé Edward John Horan, Brunet took on the role of science teacher at his alma mater, which had transitioned to Université Laval in 1852. His career advanced further when he succeeded mineralogist Thomas Sterry Hunt as the Chair of Natural History. Brunet's expertise in botany flourished through extensive fieldwork in Ontario and Quebec, complemented by two years of study in European herbaria and lectures at prestigious institutions such as the Sorbonne and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris.

Brunet's correspondence with the renowned American botanist Asa Gray inspired him to embark on a comprehensive survey of Canadian flora, a project that began in 1860 and spanned over five hundred eighty-two pages. Unfortunately, this significant work remained unpublished, overshadowed by the earlier release of Léon Provancher's Flore canadienne in 1862. In 1870, he published his first major botanical text, Éléments de botanique et de physiologie végétale, suivis d'une petite flore simple et facile pour aider à découvrir les noms des plantes les plus communes au Canada. Despite his efforts, success eluded him.

As his health deteriorated, Brunet retired at the age of forty-four to the home of his mother and sister. He passed away in Quebec City on October 2, 1876, leaving behind a legacy as one of the founding fathers of Canadian botany.