His father, François-Auguste Vinson (1791–1851), was a noted physician and politician.
He was educated in Saint-Denis, Nantes and Paris, where he studied medicine under Alfred Velpeau.
[1] In 1862 Vinson was sent to Madagascar by Napoleon III to attend the coronation of Radama II.
[1] As a naturalist, he is known for his research of Araneidae (orb-weaver spiders) native to Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius.
Vinson is also credited for being the first scientist to successively cultivate cinchona on Réunion.