24 THE TROPICAL Garden and 2000) and Puerto Rico (five volumes, between 1985 and 1997 and a synopsis in 1982–2000). The third La Salle Brother, Brother Marie- Victorin (Conrad Kirouac, 1885–1944), was from Canada. He was the founder of the Montreal Botanic Garden and had an extraordinary friendship with Brother León. Brother Marie-Victorin visited Cuba seven times and wrote three books coauthored with Brother León about his botanical expeditions to this island. Two other brothers from France need to be mentioned as they also made contributions to the study of the Cuban flora: Brother Clemente (Augustin Clement Teteau Monet, 1878–1951), and Brother Hioram Juan (Jean Frange Lagorge, 1875–1936). Brother Clemente amassed an extraordinary collection of Cuban butterflies and also had a great interest in land-snails. He also specialized in ferns. Brother Hioram Juan mostly studied mosses and lichens. Brother León and Brother Hioram Juan were part of the initial group of La Salle Brothers who came to Cuba in 1905. They moved from France, as many of La Salle schools were closed down in that country in 1904 as a result of secularization laws. David Fairchild had strong ties with Cuba, particularly through the Botanic Garden of La Soledad (located near Cienfuegos and owned by Harvard University). This garden had Fairchild’s long-time friend Prof. Thomas Barbour (1884–1946) as its custodian. As a result of this friendship, Fairchild travelled to Cuba at least three times. In one of these trips (in February 1939), he came across the brothers Marie-Victorin and León at La Soledad. Barbour and the famous American tropical botanist Prof. Elmer Drew Merrill (1876–1956) were also in this garden with Fairchild. Merrill was then the Administrator of the Botanical Collections of Harvard University and the Director of the Arnold Arboretum. One of the photos found in the Garden archives was taken in February 1935 and shows Brother León with David Fairchild, Thomas Barbour, and Brother Néstor María. The latter was the principal of the El Vedado school. In Fairchild´s pocket diary recording for his 1939 trip to Cuba, we discovered an entry in which he wrote the postal address of Brother Marie-Victorin in Montreal. The Garden’s archives have a total of 13 letters sent by Brother León to Fairchild dating from April ABOVE Stamp of Brother Marie-Victorin issue by the Canada Post in 1981. RIGHT (L-R) Dr. Thomas Barbour, Brother León, Dr. Elmer D. Merrill and Brother Marie-Victorin standing near a baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) at La Soledad Botanic Garden, Cienfuegos, Cuba. February 19, 1939. Courtesy of the Archives and Library of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
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