Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve (7 December 1796 – 20 February 1878) was a French soldier and botanist who was a native of Saint-Eutrope-de-Born in the department of Lot-et-Garonne.
He studied at École Militaire de Brienne, and later at the military school of Saint-Cyr, where he received the rank of sub-lieutenant. He entered military service in 1813, and would be associated with the French army until 1848. He participated in the Battle of Trocadero at Cadiz, and was involved in the 1843 Battle of Smala against the forces of Abd-El-Kader (1808–1883).
In the mid-1820s, Durieu de Maisonneuve developed an interest in natural history and botany by studying fresh wateralgae. He participated in the Morea expedition to Greece with naturalistJean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778–1846), and in 1840–1844 was a member of a committee for scientific exploration of Algeria. During his years in the military he also performed botanical investigations in France, Spain (Asturias) and northern Portugal. In 1856 he edited and published the exsiccata work Plantae selectae Hispano-Lusitanicae. Sectio I. Asturicae. Anno 1835 collectae distributing numbered sets of herbarium specimens.[1]
