Edmond Albius (1829 – 9 August 1880) was born a slave but became an important figure in the cultivation of vanilla. Albius was born in St. Suzanne, Réunion. His mother, a slave, died during his birth, and he was adopted by his master, Féréol Bellier Beaumont.
At the age of 12, Edmond invented a technique for hand pollinating vanilla orchids quickly and profitably. Albius’ technique revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla and made it possible to profitably grow vanilla beans away from the native areas of Mexico.
In 1841, Albius discovered how to quickly pollinate the vanilla orchid with a thin stick or blade of grass and a simple thumb gesture. With the stick or grass blade, field hands lift the rostellum, the flap that separates the male anther from the female stigma, and then, with their thumbs, smear the sticky pollen from the anther over the stigma.
Albius’ manual pollination method is still used today, as nearly all vanilla is pollinated by hand. After Albius’s discovery, Réunion became for a time the world’s largest supplier of vanilla. French colonists used Albius’ technique in Madagascar to cultivate vanilla, and Madagascar currently remains the world’s chief vanilla producer.
In 1848, France outlawed slavery in its colonies, and Albius left the plantation for St. Denis, where he worked as a kitchen servant. He was later convicted of stealing jeweler and sentenced to ten years in prison, but the sentence was commuted after five years when the governor granted him clemency in light of his enormous contribution to vanilla production in Réunion. Albius died in poverty in St. Suzanne in 1880.