Sabin Berthelot (4 April 1794 – 10 November 1880) was a French naturalist and ethnologist . He was resident on the Canary Islands for part of his life, and co-authored The Natural History of the Canary Islands (1835-50) with Philip Barker Webb .
Berthelot was the son of a Marseilles merchant. He joined the French Navy and served as a midshipman during the Napoleonic Wars . After the war he joined the merchant fleet, traveling between Marseilles and the West Indies . He first visited the Canary Islands in 1820, where he taught at a school in Tenerife and managed the botanical gardens at Orotavafor the Marquis of Villanueva del Prato .
Berthelot studied the natural history of the islands. He was joined in this task by Webb in 1828, and by 1830. They traveled to Geneva , and produced the first volume of The Natural History of the Canary Islands in 1835. Berthelot concentrated on the ethnography, history and geography of the islands, with Webb completing the natural history sections. The ornithological section was mainly written by Alfred Moquin-Tandon .
In 1845 Berthelot founded the Ethnological Society . In 1846 he returned to Tenerife, and in 1848 was appointed to the French consular agent for the island, being promoted to full Consul in 1867. He retired in August 1874, and was given the freedom of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife .
Berthelot’s other publications on the islands included The Guanches (1841 and 1845), The Conquest of the Canaries (1879) and Canarian Antiquities (1879).
The Berthelot ‘s pipit ( Anthus berthelotii ) was named after him Carl Bolle .
References
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