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Authorised form of nameBougainville; Louis Antoine de (1729 - 1811)
Dates1729 - 1811
NationalityFrench
Place of birthParis
Date of birth11 November 1729
Place of deathParis
Date of death31 August 1811
OccupationNavigator
ActivityCareer:
Studied law; entered army corps of musketeers (1753); sent to London as secretary to the French embassy (1755); went to Canada as captain of dragoon and aide de camp to the Marquis Montcalm (1756), distinguished himself in the war against the English and was made colonel; served in the Seven Years War (1761-1763); took on at his own expense the colonization of the Falkland Islands (1763) but had to abandon the project; appointed to the command of the frigate "La Boudeuse" and the transport L'Etoile and set sail December 1766 on a voyage of discovery around the world touching at Buenos Aires, sailing through the straits of Magellan, visiting the Tuamoto archipelago and Tahiti, Samoa, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands and Buru in the Moluccas with his men suffering from scurvy, he then sailed to Bahi and in 1769 arrived at St Malo with only 7 men lost out of his crew of 200, he published an account of his voyage; saw much active service (1779-1782); created chef d'ecadre and on re-entering the army made marechal de camp; returned to Paris after the peace, made Vice Admiral (1791); escaped the Paris massacres and retired to his estate in Normandy where he devoted himself to scientific pursuits; Napoleon I made him a senator, Count of the Empire and member of the Legion of Honour; the largest island of the Solomon Group is named after Bougainville as is the strait separating it from Choiseuil; his name is perpetuated in the plant Bougainvillea
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election08/01/1756
RelationshipsSon of a notary, Pierre-Yves de Bougainville
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll
CodeNA8829
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1755/13Bougainville, Louis Antoine de: certificate of election to the Royal Society
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