Marie-Clément Rodier, C.S.Sp. (French pronunciation: [maʁiklemɑ̃ ʁɔdje]; born Vital Rodier; 1839–1904)[1] was a French missionary brother in Algeria. He is credited with creating the clementine variety of mandarin orange in 1902.[1]
Rodier was born 25 May 1839 as Vital Rodier in Malvieille, near to Chambon-sur-Dolore, France.[1][2] Originally a member of the Brothers of the Annunciation at Misserghin in Algeria, he helped to run an orphanage. Brother Marie-Clément worked with the orphanage's citrus trees, and made grafts from an uncultivated tree that had grown among some thorn bushes in the orchard. This graft resulted in the clementine, which was named in honor of its creator.[1]
Brother Marie-Clément's new variety was "a species of mandarin, which won the admiration of connoisseurs and which the orphans christened the Clementine. It was neither a mandarin tree nor an orange tree. Its fruit was redder than a mandarin and had a delicious taste and, moreover, it had no pith".[1][3]
Brother Marie-Clément became a brother in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit after the Brothers of the Annunciation were authorized to join that order in 1903.[1] He died in 1904.
In 2010, a building on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was named Clement Hall in honor of Brother Marie-Clément.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Spiritan Connection to the Clementine Fruit". Center for Spiritan Studies. Duquesne University. 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ↑ Laszlo, Pierre (2007). Citrus: a history. University of Chicago Press. p. 23.
- ↑ Charrier, René. Memoire Spiritaine, Études et Documents, 1.
- ↑ "New Campus Buildings Named for Significant DU Figures". Duquesne University Times. Duquesne University. September 22, 2010. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2010.