Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Bodichon, Eugène
BODICHON, Eugène, M.D., husband of the lady mentioned above, was born at Nantes in 1810, of an ancient Breton family on the maternal side, and on the paternal side of a family ennobled two centuries before. He took his degree as physician of the faculty of Paris in 1835, and soon after settled in Algeria, at once actively participating in the political and social questions then agitating the colony. At that time Dr. Bodichon was one of three Republicans only, but mainly owing to their combined efforts a true democratic spirit was infused into all sections of society, and now Algeria is so entirely Republican that on the occasion of general elections Conservative candidates do not even offer themselves. Dr. Bodichon contributed for many years to the first Republican journal printed in Algiers, advancing upon every occasion those theories which have since been put into practice by the Government, namely, a civil instead of military régime throughout the colony; tribal, instead of individual responsibility, in the case of Arab insurrection; and the réboisement or replanting of forests, as the only means calculated to modify the climate, rendering it habitable for Europeans. On the proclamation of the Republic in 1848, Dr. Bodichon was named corresponding member of the Provisional Government, and he immediately suggested the liberation of the slaves in Algeria—a measure at once carried out. Since that time Dr. Bodichon has occupied himself with scientific and political writings, and the introduction into the colony of the anti-febrile Australian blue gum tree, or Eucalyptus globulus. In 1866 he published his most important work, "De l'Humanité," at Brussels, the types having been broken in Algiers by order of the Imperial Government on account of a powerful analysis of the character of the First Napoleon. This monograph has been translated into English. Dr. Bodichon's "Considération sur l'Algérie," and "Hygiène à suivre en Algérie," may be ranked among the classics of Algerian literature; whilst the value of his ethnographical investigations has been acknowledged by M. Henri Martin and other eminent authorities.