Genus Deschampsia

For Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765–1842) a French botanist, naturalist, physician and plant collector, mainly in Java. He went on an expedition (1791–1793) in search of the explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. Bad weather and disease resulted in 89 of the 119 of his crew dying. The French expedition became stranded in Java and Deschamps was briefly interned by the Dutch. The Dutch governor Van Overstraten persuaded Deschamps to conduct research in Java, which he did. Further misfortune followed when the ship in which he was travelling home was captured by the British. His diary, drawings, manuscripts and specimens were taken from him and donated to the British Museum much later, in 1861. Afterwards he settled in Batavia as a physician until 1802, but eventually settled at Saint Omer in France.