François Désiré Roulin (August 1796 – June 5, 1874) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

, physician and illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 born in Rennes

Rennes

Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...

.

Roulin visited South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 from 1821 to 1828, becoming an expert on the natural history of the region. In 1824 he served as a physician on an expedition funded by the Colombian government to survey the Meta River

Meta River

The Meta River is formed in the Meta Department, Colombia by the confluence of the Humea, Guatiquía and Guayuriba rivers. It flows east-northeastward across the Llanos Orientales plains of Colombia through an ancient fault...

, a tributary of the Orinoco River. While in South America, he performed exploratory nature studies in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. Illustrations from his studies were used by Georges Cuvier

Georges Cuvier

Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...

 (1769-1832) in Le Règne Animal.

After returning to France in 1829, he was sub-librarian and librarian

Librarian

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

 of the Institut de France

Institut de France

The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...

. He published numerous articles in the following magazines: Le Globe

Le Globe

Le Globe was a French newspaper, published between 1824 and 1832, created with the goal of publishing Romantic creations. It was established by Pierre Leroux. After 1828, the paper became political and Liberal in tone....

, Le Temps, La Revue des Deux Mondes and Le Magasin picturesque.

Roulin was son-in-law to politician Joseph Blin (1764-1834), and an uncle to mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

 Joseph Bertrand (1822-1900) and archaeologist Alexandre Bertrand

Alexandre Bertrand

Alexandre Louis Joseph Bertrand was a French archaeologist who was a native of Rennes. He was the son of physician Alexandre Jacques François Bertrand and elder brother to mathematician Joseph Louis François Bertrand .Bertrand studied at Ecole Normale Superieure de la rue d'Ulm, and after a...

(1820-1902).