João Barbosa Rodrigues was a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian botanist and engineer.

He was born in São Gonçalo do Sapucaí and raised in Campanha, in the State of Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. He returned to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 with his family in 1858. He first dedicated to the commerce, but he was always interested in natural science, collecting insects and plants. He became a teacher of drawing and specialized in botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, under the supervision of Francisco Freire Allemão e Cysneiro

Francisco Freire Allemão e Cysneiro

Francisco Freire Allemão e Cysneiro was a Brazilian botanist who collected in northeast Brazil and along the Rio de Janeiro. His association with the Brazilian National Museum in Rio de Janeiro took place at a time when Brazilian botany was dominated by foreigners.Among his many duties as...

. He was in the Amazon Forest in a scientific mission of the imperial government (1872-1875). Some years later he organized and directed, in Manaus

Manaus

Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....

, the Botanic Garden, opened in 1883 under the sponsorship of the Princess Isabel and closed later. In 1890 he became the director of the Botanic Garden of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden or Jardim Botânico is located at the Jardim Botânico district in the "Zona Sul" of Rio de Janeiro....

, which he directed until his death. He published various works, and one of his most important contributions was his work about orchids

Orchidaceae

The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...

, in two volumes, Genera et species orchidearum novarum (1877/1881).