Belgian botanist and a professor at the State Agricultural Institute in Gembloux (Belgium), who established the botanical garden of Eala in 1900. Eala is a park located east of Mbandaka on the left bank of the Ruki in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Laurent undertook two voyages to the Congo in 1893 and 1897 to study natural and botanical conditions. After returning to Belgium, he succeeded in convincing the government of the Independent State of the Congo to create botanical gardens in the heart of Africa to encourage the agricultural development of the Congo. The creation of the Botanical Garden of Eala was decided by Royal Decree of King Sovereign Leopold II on 3 February 1900.
The mission to install the garden of Eala embarked from Antwerp for the Congo on 16 September 1900. It consisted of Emile Laurent, P. Huyghe, gardener, and Leon Pynaert, horticulturist trained in various botanical gardens (including Kew Gardens in England and Buitenzorg, now Bongor in the Dutch East Indies). They brought with them 48 boxes of plants and seeds of tropical origin. On their arrival in Eala, 300 Congolese workers were placed at their disposal by the district commissioner of Coquilhatville (Mbandaka) to carry out the hard work of clearing the land.
Emile Laurent died on 23 February 1904 between Accra and Sierra Leone on his return journey from the Congo to Belgium.
Link to Jardin botanique d’Eala: Création et historique