Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars

Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars , other spellings: Du Petit-Thouars , du Petit Thouars (born August 3, 1793 in Turquant , † March 16, 1864 in Paris ), was a French naval officer and circumnavigator who played an important role in the French annexation -Polynesia played by France .

Early years

Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars was born into a wealthy family in the Château de La Fessardière near Turquant on the Loire. His uncle was the admiral Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thouars , who distinguished himself as the commander of Le Tonnant at the sea ​​battle at Abukir . In 1804, at the age of 11, he joined the French Navy and served during the Napoleonic Wars in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, most recently as an ensign . In 1826 he was appointed frigate captain and took part in the Algerian War (1830-1847) as commander of the Brigg Griffon .

The circumnavigation

1836 Dupetit-Thouars was commissioned with the frigate V enus to sail into the Pacific to "show the flag" to and operated French interests in the region, which also British warships and the United Kingdom territorial claims presented to represent. The Venus left Brest on December 29, 1836 sailed to Rio and rounded Cape Horn in April 1837. Then it went over Valparaiso and Callao to Hawaii where Venus in June 1837 arrived. At the end of July 1837 Dupetit-Thouars sailed on to Kamchatka Island and the Aleutian Islands . There he discovered that some of the islands on the nautical charts did not even exist. From there, Du Petit-Thouars crossed the Pacific Ocean again, this time in an easterly direction, and reached mainland California at Monterey . Then he drove along the Central and South American coast to Easter Island . The French did not go ashore there, but only sailed along the north and west coast of Easter Island. Via Callao and the Galápagos Islands we went to the Marquesas , where Venus arrived on August 2, 1838. The first Catholic missionaries Desvaux and Borgella came to Tahuata by ship . After topographical and hydrographic investigations, Dupetit-Thouars sailed on to Tahiti , where he met Jules Dumont d'Urville in early September 1838 , whose ships L'Astrolabe and Zéléé were already anchored in the Matavai Bay. In mid-September, Venus left Tahiti and sailed to the Cook Islands and on to New Zealand . Via Sydney , Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope , Dupetit-Thouars returned to Brest, where the ship arrived on June 24, 1839 after circumnavigating the earth.

Between 1840 and 1864 the trip resulted in eleven volumes with text and four atlases with illustration panels on various topics such as: B. Physics, Zoology, Botany and Country-Specific Relationships. Most of them appeared under the title Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate "La Vénus" pendant les années 1836-1839 publié by Abel Du Petit-Thouars , but were often edited by other authors.

Annexation of the Marquesas and Tahiti

The frigate Reine Blanche , the corvette La Triomphante and two escort ships off Tahiti on September 9, 1842

Of far greater significance for history, however, were Dupetit-Thouars' other activities in the South Pacific. In 1841 he was promoted to rear admiral and appointed commander of the French Pacific Fleet. With the frigate Reine Blanche , the corvette La Triomphante and two other ships, he arrived in Vaitahu Bay on Tahuata at the end of April 1842 and on May 1, 1842 announced the annexation of the southeast group of the Marquesas Islands by France. The occupation of the northwest group took place on June 1, 1842 in Taiohae on the island of Nuku Hiva . The Marquesas became a French colony.

Dupetit-Thouars sailed from the Marquesas to Tahiti and on September 9, 1842, without having been commissioned to do so, he proclaimed the provisional French protectorate over Tahiti, ignoring the fact that the missionary George Pritchard (August 1, 1796 - May 6 1883) of the London Missionary Society had already appointed British "Consul". This was followed in November 1843 by the final protectorate approved by Queen Pomaré IV . But it was not until 1844 that the agreements were recognized by King Louis-Philippe I , who initially hesitated because he feared conflicts with Great Britain.

Late years and death

Dupetit-Thouars returned to France, received the rank of Vice-Admiral (Vice-amiral) in 1846, retired in 1858 and became a Member of Parliament. Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars died on March 16, 1864 in Paris.

Since he had had no offspring of his own, he had adopted his sister's son, Abel Nicolas Bergasse Dupetit-Thouars , who later became a French admiral who played an important role in the Boshin War in Japan from 1868 to 1869 .

Others

literature

  • Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars: Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate la Vénus , Paris 1864
  • Barbara Mearns , Richard Mearns: Audubon to Xantus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names . Academic Press Limited, London 1992, ISBN 978-0-12-487423-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John Dunmore: Who's Who in Pacific Navigation, Honolulu 1991, pp. 92-94
  2. ↑ Karl von den Steinen : The Marquesans and their art. Volume 1, Berlin 1925, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Richard Mearns et al. a., p. 332.
  4. ↑ Karl von den Steinen: The Marquesans and their art. Volume 1, Berlin 1925, p. 9.
  5. ^ Wilhelm Emil Mühlmann: Arioi and Mamaia, Wiesbaden 1955, p. 253
  6. ↑ Alberto Masi: Cronologia della storia dell`ornitologia http://www.scricciolo.com/Nuovo_Neornithes/cronologia_6a.htm
personal data
SURNAME Dupetit-Thouars, Abel Aubert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Du Petit-Thouars, Abel Aubert; Petit Thouars, Abel Aubert you
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French naval officer and circumnavigator
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH Turquant
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1864
Place of death Paris