Following his service (as a youth) in the First World War, André Aubréville entered the École Polytechnique (promotion 20 "special") and obtained an engineering degree in 1922.
Les forêts de l'Afrique occidentale française in 1938 which was not only a treatise on tropical sylviculture but a tract on the politics of forestry.
[2] His publications on tropical Africa are widely recognized for their comprehensive approach to the subject: which include, in addition to the scientific treatment, practical aspects such as forest management, and anthropogenic factors.
In 1955, retired from his position as Inspector General, he was appointed professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in 1958, thus beginning a second career as holder of the chair of Phanerogamy following Jean-Henri Humbert.
At this time, the botanical publications at the Museum were in a transition period: one of the major series had ended, the General Flora of Indochina by Paul Henri Lecomte, and human resources had been reduced.