Edmond Albius was just a 12-year-old boy, enslaved and without formal education, in 1841. However, he managed to develop an innovative technique to pollinate vanilla orchids quickly and profitably, solving an enigma that intrigued prominent botanists of the time. Without her contribution, vanilla would not have achieved the popularity it has today.
In the 1820s, French settlers brought vanilla capsules to the island of Reunion, where Albius was born in 1829, near Madagascar, and to Mauritius from Mexico. It soon became clear that no insect from the region could pollinate vanilla orchids, unlike Mexico, where wild bees did the job. In the 1830s, the Belgian botanist Charles Morten developed a manual pollination technique, but it took a lot of time and work.
Albius, at 12, used leaves of grass or fine pieces of wood to lift the flower lid and fold the male part, allowing pollen to come in contact with the female part. Then, with the thumb, he pressed slightly, performing the pollination effectively. Although simple, its technique revolutionized the industry and transformed Reunion into one of the largest suppliers of vanilla in the world.
Albius' contributions to science went unnoticed during his lifetime and he passed away into poverty and oblivion. Only many years after his death his work was recognized and celebrated as a significant breakthrough in the history of botany. To this day, the Albius technique is used in Madagascar and the country stands out as the largest supplier of vanilla in the world.
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