José Pizcueta i Donday (València 1792-1870) Doctor and botanist.

Doctor in philosophy (1809) and medicine (1817). In 1829 he obtained the Botany Chair and was appointed director of the Botanic Garden (1820-1867), which he reorganized after the Spanish War of Independence.

The University of Valencia had commissioned Pizcueta after completing his Botany studies at the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid. Among his teachers were Mariano Lagasca and Demetrio González, who were, in turn, disciples of Cavanilles. From them he learnt about the systematics and our cultivation.

The Botanic Garden experienced its greatest splendour under Pizcueta. He carried out an intense activity of ordering and increasing of the plant collections. He promoted the building of adequate facilities for the acclimatization and cultivation of exotic flora. The Garden was also provided with a huge herbarium and a library.

With the help of Felix Robillard, who studies in the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, he modernized the School of Botany following Endlicher’s natural method of ordering. In 1845, a timber greenhouse of 30 meters long and 5 meters in height was built, next to the Eastern wall of the Garden.

In 1906 the heirs to José Pizcueta bequeathed the Botanical Garden their private library, which consisted of general botanic books and floras from the 18th and 19th centuries. This legacy constitutes the basis of the Old Collection.

Among his most notable publications are:

- (1830). Elogio histórico de D. José Antonio Cavanilles.

- (1856). Enumeratio Plantarum Horti Botanici Valentini.