See also: Valiant (homonymy)

Sebastien Vaillant (May 26th 1669, Vigny in the Val-d'Oise - May 20th 1722, Paris) is a botanist French. Valiant comes from a family of farmers since his/her father was a rather poor peasant but who had in heart the ambitions of his son.

To the six years age, it followed Mr. Subtil, a priest who took it along to make botanical excursions. As of the 11 years age, he is the organician of the Benedictine monastery. Thereafter, he studies medicine and the surgery at the hospital of Pontoise.

After studies in medicine with Pontoise, Vaillant exerts the trade of surgeon initially with Rouen, then with Paris in 1691 where he studies botany with the Botanical garden near Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708).

In 1708, thanks to the action of Guy-Crescent Fagon (1638-1718), it obtains the load of professor and under-demonstrator to the Botanical garden. In its inaugural lesson, Vaillant evokes the reproduction of the plants and the function of the floral bodies by making analogies with the animal reproduction.

Fagon obtains the authorization of Louis XIV to build a Cabinet of drugs to the Garden of the King and Vaillant load to furnish it and to ensure the guard of it.

In 1714, it obtains the authorization to build a greenhouse in order to cultivate fatty plants there, then one second in 1717. It is him which introduces in France the use of the hot greenhouses.

In 1716, Valiant between with the Academy of Science.

It becomes sick and too poor to publish its Botanicon Parisiense (or Dénombrement alphabetically of the plants which develops around Paris ) illustrated by Claude Aubriet fruit 36 year old of work; it bequeaths its work to Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738). This one made engrave the illustrations and publishes it in 1727. It is a particularly important work in the history of the Botanique and one of the first to describe the Flore that one knows. Valiant introduced there the terms of cheesecloth, ovary and ovule in their current direction.

All its life, Vaillant was opposed to the theses of Tournefort; this one dedicated however a kind to him, Valantia , that Carl von Linné (1707-1778) transformed later into Vaillantia (of the family of the Rubiacée S). Its Herbier is preserved today at the national Muséum of natural history.