Charles Antoine Lemaire was born in Paris on November 1, 1800, the son of Antoine Charles Lemaire and Marie Jeanne Davio. His early education was comprehensive, and he was known to be an excellent student. He attended the University of Paris and, after the completion of his studies, he achieved the position of Professor of Classical Literature at the University. During his academic career, he developed an interest in botany. His close friendship with M. Neumann, the chief horticulturist at the Museum of Natural History, was significant in what became a radical change in Lemaire’s life work.

Lemaire began his scientific career by assisting M. Mathieu, a nurseryman in Paris, in creating a collection of cacti. In 1835, a publisher in Paris, M. Cousin, started a horticultural journal and asked Lemaire to be its editor. For many years, he edited Jardin Fleuriste and L’Horticulteur Universel and wrote most of their contents himself. In 1845, he was invited by Louis van Houtte to move to Ghent, Belgium, and become the editor of his newly established journal, Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe. Nine years later, still in Ghent, he became the editor of L’Illustration Horticole, founded by Ambroise Verschaffelt, and held that position for sixteen years. He returned to Paris in 1870 and died there in June 1871.

In addition to the vast amount of his writing found in the journals edited by Lemaire, he published small works on the cactaceae and other succulent plants. Lemaire’s plans for a significant book on the cactaceae never realized even though he had collected much of the necessary material. He lived in unfortunate circumstances for most of his life and never acquired the reputation that might have brought him a wealthy patron. Edouard Andre, his successor as editor of L’Illustration Horticole, wrote of him, “Posterity will esteem M. Lemaire more highly than did his contemporaries.”