Meet, Edmond Albius the slave who launched the Vanilla Industry
As a 12-year-old, Edmond Albius invented the technique that made the vanilla industry possible (still used today as nearly all vanilla is pollinated by hand). He revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla. He made it possible for us to enjoy treats like Vanilla Ice Cream!
Meet Edmond Albius, a 12-year-old who invented the technique that made the vanilla industry possible (still used today as nearly all vanilla is pollinated by hand). He revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla. He made it possible for us to enjoy treats like Vanilla Ice Cream!
At the time of his discovery, was a slave, who born in Sainte-Suzanne in 1829, on the island of Bourbon (modern-day Réunion). Moreso, he was orphaned from birth, as he lost his mother and never knew his father. Later in life with his mum before death, she sent him to work with Fereol Bellier-Beaumont who initiated him into horticulture, and then botany.
He spent most of his time following Beaumont around the estate as tended to his plants. Beaumont later wrote about Albius, that “this young black boy became my constant companion, a favourite child always at my feet.”
READ ALSO: Meet Ore Green: The first female pharmacist in West Africa
Furthermore, French colonists brought vanilla beans to Réunion in the 1820s with the hope of starting production there. However, the vines were sterile because no insect would pollinate them. In the 1830s, Charles Morren, a professor of botany at the University of Liège in Belgium, developed a method of hand-pollinating vanilla, but his technique was slow and required too much effort to make cultivating vanilla a money-making proposition.
However, in 1841, Albius discovered 1841 the practical process for the pollination of vanilla, a process that has revolutionized the culture of this almost ubiquitous spice. He discovered how to quickly pollinate the vanilla orchid with a thin stick or blade of grass and a simple thumb gesture. Since this discovery was made by a child, who was black, and a slave, the invention was quickly contested by all the jealous people.
The unprincipled botanist Jean-Michel-Claude Richard would pretend to have taught the technique to the slave Albius three or four years earlier. However, the lie will reach its paroxysm when at the beginning of the 20th century, the French press will go as far as claiming that Edmond Albius was white.
Albius eventually gained his freedom with the abolition of slavery in 1848, but will not get any financial benefit from his invention which made the fortune of planters and of the French economy. He died in misery in 1880.
Conclusively, as you enjoy vanilla aromas in cakes, perfumes, and all those delicacies, don’t forget to celebrate the genius of Edmond Albius.
As a 12 year old, Edmond Albius, invented the technique that made the vanilla industry possible (still used today as nearly all vanilla is pollinated by hand). He revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla.
He made it possible for us to enjoy treats like Vanilla Ice Cream! pic.twitter.com/wttB1Tz34W
— AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY (@africanarchives) May 16, 2021
