Antoine PARMENTIER Autographed letter signed to the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Public Health

  

Antoine PARMENTIER - Autographed letter signed - Agriculture Commission and Committee of Public Safety 1794. A precursor of food chemistry and agrobiology, he was a promoter of potato consumption and recognized for his work on the use of new foods during periods of famine and as a military pharmacist (a prominent role in the pharmaceutical organization of the health service under the Empire).

Autographed letter signed, Paris, 7 Fructidor Year 2 (August 24, 1794), 2 ½ pages in 4, light green paper. Autographed letter signed by Parmentier, then a member of the Commission of Agriculture and Arts at the Agency of Military Hospices, during the Revolution, in which he reaffirms his national sentiments: "my time, my experience, and my insights belong to the public good" and appears enthusiastic about continuing the work of his correspondent in western France. The Commission of Agriculture and Arts was created by the National Convention in April 1794 and was responsible for "everything concerning rural economy, draining and clearing land, the education of domestic animals, veterinary schools, factories.

" Parmentier undertook numerous missions in Nantes, Lorient, and Switzerland before resigning from the commission in the fall of 1794. He expresses enthusiasm but requests authorization from the Committee of Public Safety for the mission. "I received your letter with the copy of that from the Health Commission; my time, my experience, and my insights belonging to the public good, you may always dispose of them when you deem it necessary [...] for the important service entrusted to you.

Therefore, I will be very eager to go to Nantes and Lorient to continue the operations we have been jointly charged with alongside the citizen worthy in every respect of the trust you have placed in him; but we need authorization from the Commission of Public Aid and perhaps even from the Committee of Public Safety so that you do not encounter obstacles in carrying out the mission you have to fulfill [...