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See also: born at See also: Paris on the 1th of See also: November 1729
.
He was the son of a See also: notary, and in early See also: life studied See also: law, but soon abandoned the profession, and in 1753 entered the army in the corps of musketeers
.
At the age of twenty-five he published a See also: treatise on the integral calculus, as a supplement to De l'Hopital's treatise,.See also: Des infiniment petits
.
In 1755 he was sent to See also: London as secretary to the French See also: embassy, and was made a member of the Royal Society
.
In 1756 he went to See also: Canada as captain of dragoons and aide-de-See also: camp to the See also: marquis de Mont-See also: calm; and having distinguished himself in the war against See also: England, was rewarded with the See also: rank of colonel and the See also: cross of St See also: Louis
.
He afterwards served in the Seven Years' War from 1761 to 1763
.
After the
See also: peace, when the French See also: government conceived the project of colonizing the See also: Falkland Islands, Bougainville undertook the task at his own expense
.
But the See also: settlement having excited the jealousy of the Spaniards, the French government gave it up to them, on condition of their indemnifying Bougainville
.
He was then appointed to the command of the See also: frigate " La Boudeuse " and the transport " L'Etoile," and set See also: sail in See also: December 1766 on a voyage of See also: discovery round the See also: world
.
Having executed his commission of delivering up the Falkland Islands to the See also: Spanish, Bougainville proceeded on his expedition, and touched at Buenos Aires
.
Passing through the Straits of See also: Magellan, he visited the Tuamotu See also: archipelago, and See also: Tahiti, where the See also: English navigator See also: Wallis had touched eight months before
.
He proceeded across the Pacific Ocean by way of the Samoan See also: group, which he named the Navigators Islands, the New See also: Hebrides and the See also: Solomon Islands
.
His men now suffering from See also: scurvy, and his vessels requiring refitting, he anchored at See also: Buru, one of the See also: Moluccas, where the governor of the Dutch settlement supplied his wants
.
It was the beginning of See also: September, and the expedition took
316
See also: advantage of the easterly monsoon, which carried them to See also: Batavia
.
In See also: March 1769 the expedition arrived at St Malo, with the loss of only seven out of upwards of 200 men
.
Bougainville's account of the voyage (Paris, 1771) is written with simplicity and some
See also: humour
.
After an See also: interval of several years, he again accepted a See also: naval command and saw much active service between 1779 and 1782
.
In the memorable engagement of the 12th of See also: April 1782, in which Rodney defeated the comte de Grasse, near See also: Martinique, Bougainville, who commanded the " Auguste," succeeded in rallying eight See also: ships of his own division, and bringing them safely into St Eustace
.
He was created chef d'escadre, and on re-entering the army, was given the rank of marechal de camp
.
After the peace he returned to Paris, and obtained the place of associate of the See also: Academy
.
He projected a voyage of discovery towards the See also: north See also: pole, but this did not meet with support from the French government
.
Bougainville obtained the rank of See also: vice-See also: admiral in 1791; and in 1792, having escaped almost miraculously from the massacres of Paris, he retired to his estate in See also: Normandy
.
He was chosen a member of the Institute at its formation, and returning to Paris became a member of the See also: Board of Longitude
.
In his old age See also: Napoleon I. made him a senator, count of the See also: empire, and member of the See also: Legion of Honour
.
He died at Paris on the 31st of See also: August 1811
.
He was married and had three sons, who served in the French army
.
Bougainville's name is given to the largest member of the Solomon Islands, which belongs to See also: Germany; and to the strait which divides it from the See also: British See also: island of Choiseul
.
It is also applied to the strait between Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo Islands of the New Hebrides group, and the See also: South See also: American climbing plant Bougainvillea, often cultivated in greenhouses, is named after him
.
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[back] CHEVALIER DE STANISLAS JEAN BOUFFLERS (1737-1815) |
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