| Authorised form of name | Bougainville; Louis Antoine de (1729 - 1811) |
| Dates | 1729 - 1811 |
| Nationality | French |
| Place of birth | Paris |
| Date of birth | 11 November 1729 |
| Place of death | Paris |
| Date of death | 31 August 1811 |
| Occupation | Navigator |
| Activity | Career:
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 category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 08/01/1756 |
| Relationships | Son of a notary, Pierre-Yves de Bougainville |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll |
| Code | NA8829 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1755/13 | Bougainville, Louis Antoine de: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MC/25/152 | Letter from David Ross McCord, Advocate,Temple Grove, Montreal, to [Robert] Harrison, General [Secretary] & Librarian, Royal Society, Burlington House | 18 June 1910 |
| MC/25/154 | Letter from David Ross McCord, McCord National Museum, to Robert Harrison, [Assistant Secretary & Librarian, Royal Society] | 24 June 1910 |
| MC/25/151 | Letter from David Ross McCord, Advocate,Temple Grove, Montreal, to Sir Joseph Larmor, [Secretary], Royal Society, Burlington House | 21 February 1910 |