Jean-Marie Pelt

Jean-Marie Pelt in 2008.

Jean-Marie Pelt (24 October 1933 – 23 December 2015) was a French biologist, botanist and pharmacist with degrees in both Biology and Pharmacy.

He was professor at the University of Lorraine, specializing in medicinal plants and traditional pharmacopeia, and is the author of several scientific articles and books on pharmaceutical plants, plant biology and urban ecology.[1] Jean-Marie Pelt was known to the French public as the producer of several television series and radio broadcasts on plant biology and ecology.[2][3] He has been nicknamed the Konrad Lorenz of the vegetable world.[4][5]

Scientific works

Through his academic career, Jean-Marie Pelt studied the science of medicinal plants, phytopharmacology, phytotherapy, and phytotoxicology. He specifically focused on the repertories of drugs and medicinal plants of Afghanistan, Chile, Europe, and Yemen.[1]

Institutional roles

In addition to his research work at the University of Nancy and more recently the University of Lorraine, Jean-Marie Pelt founded the European Institute of Ecology in 1972 and co-founded the French Society of Ethnopharmacology in 1987 and the Comity of Independent Research and Information on the Genetic Engineering in 1999.[6][7] Along with Simone Veil, Jacques Delors or Corinne Lepage, Jean-Marie Pelt was a fellow member of the Committee 21, the French deliberative assembly for the environment and sustainable development which is in charge of implementing the Agenda 21 action plan.

Urban ecology concepts and applications

Thought of a biologist on the evolution of the Western industrial societies, notably European ones; search for new balances based on the respect of some fundamental rules: justice, economy toward ecology, new culture and school.

— Blurb of The re-naturalized Human, 1977 book of Jean-Marie Pelt in which he developed his pioneering approach of urban ecology.

As municipal councilor of Metz between 1971 and 1983, Jean-Marie Pelt pioneered a policy of urban ecology.[8] Because of the failure in post-war urban planning and housing estates occurring in Europe during the 1960s, and gathering inspiration from the concepts of CIAM,[9][10][11] Professor Pelt initiated a new approach towards the urban environment.[12] He developed his ideas on this topic in The Re-Naturalized Human, a pioneering book from 1977 which was awarded the European Prize of Ecology.

Based on the ideas of the Chicago School, Pelt's theories advocated for a better integration of humans into their environment and developed a concept concerning the relation between "stones and waters".[8][13][14] His ideas were materialized in Metz with the establishment of extensive open areas surrounding the Moselle and the Seille rivers and the development of large areas for walking. He died on 23 December 2015.[15]

The creation of a water garden around a tributary stream of the Moselle river in Metz during the early 70s was one of the major materializations of Jean-Marie Pelt's urban ecology and planning concepts.

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 "Pubmed list of scientific articles co-authored by Jean-Marie Pelt". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Pelt J.M. (1982,1986) L'aventure des plantes 1 & 2. TF1. (French)
  3. ↑ Pelt J.M. (1990-92) Chroniques écologiques. RTL. (French)
  4. ↑ "L'Express newspaper's article, 1st October 2009" (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "La Croix newspaper's article, 17th April 2009" (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Official website of the French Society of Ethnopharmacology and of the European Institute if Ecology" (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Official website of the Comity of Independent Research and Information on the Genetic Engineering" (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  8. 1 2 Pelt J.M. (1977) L'Homme re-naturé. Eds. Seuil. ISBN 2-02-004589-3 (French)
  9. ↑ Berrar J.C. (2011) Metz défigurée dans les années 60-70. Eds. Serpenoise. ISBN 978-2-87692-909-8 (French)
  10. ↑ "INA Archive (1964) Quartiers anciens de Metz, chefs d'oeuvre en péril, ORTF" (VIDEO) (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  11. ↑ "INA Archive (1964) Au secours des quartiers anciens, ORTF" (VIDEO) (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "INA Archive (1977) Samedi et demi, interview with Jean-Marie Pelt. Prod. Antenne 2" (VIDEO) (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "INA Archive (1977) Restauration urbaine à Metz, Antenne 2" (VIDEO) (in French). Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "INA Archive (1980) Urbanisme à Metz : rénovation des quartiers anciens, France 3 Régions" (VIDEO) (in French). Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Jean-Marie Pelt, une vie au service de l'homme et de la nature". www.republicain-lorrain.fr. Retrieved 2015-12-23.

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