Jules Dumont d'Urville
Jules -Sébastien- César Dumont d' Urville (* May 23, 1790 in Condé- sur- Noireau; † May 8, 1842 in Meudon ) was a French sailor and Arctic explorer. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " d' Urv. ".
Life and research trips
Early years
Dumont decided at the age of 17 years for a higher career as an officer in the Navy. He finished the officer academy with honors. Dumont was a talented botanist and spoke seven languages fluently - including German, Greek and Hebrew.
1820, during a cartographic expedition in the Aegean, he succeeded, the Venus de Milo, which had been excavated in the same year on the island of Melos, for France " acquire " to. From August 1822 to March 1824 took Dumont on the ship Coquille at a botanical and hydrographic expedition through the South Seas part.
Own expeditions to the South Seas
A year later, he was granted a separate expedition through the South Seas by the Navy.
Dumont stabbed on 22 April 1826 on the renamed Astrolabe Coquille from Toulon to sea.
This expedition took him to the South Pacific, looking for traces of the lost explorer there 1788 Jean- François de La Pérouse.
In February 1828 it was found in Vanicoro a wreck that was probably been de la Pérouse's ship Astrolabe.
On this journey, which lasted from 1826 to 1829, parts of New Zealand have been re- mapped.
In addition, Dumont visited among others, the Fiji Islands, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Tasmania ( the then Van Diemen's Land was called ), the Caroline Islands and Celebes.
He brought over 1600 plant samples, 900 rock samples as well as record of the languages on the islands visited.
The division of Oceania in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia goes back to an essay Dumont from 1832.
He relied on the language ( closely related languages in Polynesia, a variety of unconnected languages in Melanesia ) and on the appearance and behavior of the inhabitants ( fair-skinned Polynesians with a complex social structure, dark Melanesians in " fragile " tribal societies ).
On March 25, 1829, the expedition returned to France.
Under the title of Voyage de la corvette
After his return he fell despite the excellent research results in disgrace. He was accused of arrogance and selfishness, also he was accused that he had treated the team cruel and presented research findings exaggerated.
Expedition to the South Pole
For seven years he had to take part in activities desk before him a new command has been transferred. King Louis- Philippe gave him in addition to the required Astrolabe even a second ship with that Zèlée. This time, the ride should go first to the South Pole, " as far as the ice permits " - the order of the king. For each degree above the 75th latitude - the former record of James Weddell - should get an extra bonus the team.
On September 7, 1837 two ships set sail. The journey to the South Pole was not very happy. After the ship had crossed the Strait of Magellan, the expedition reached the pack ice at 63 ° 29 'S and 44 ° 47'W. However, the poor equipment was a sailing in the ice not to, the ships remained stuck in the ice and had to be laboriously refloated. While the ships sailed over 300 miles along the pack ice edge and the Joinville Islands, Louis -Philippe Land and Astrolabe Iceland discovered ill half the crew from scurvy, and after it had done with his last strength back to Chile, the two ships, deserted many crew members.
In the summer of 1838, the ride went through the South Pacific to the Solomon Islands and the north coast of New Guinea. Here d' Urville named a bay after his ship, which still today bears the name of Astrolabe Bay.
The next winter started d' Urville from Hobart in Tasmania from the second attempt to penetrate the Antarctic, among others in the hope that the south magnetic pole, which has been suggested in the unexplored region between the 120th and the 160th longitude to find. This time the trip was happier and d' Urville discovered on the Antarctic continent lying and since then occupied by France Terre Adélie, where today a station named after him. He named the area after his wife Adèle.
The return took him from New Guinea and St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean is the third time around the world. On November 6, 1840, the two ships reached after three years and two months back the home port of Toulon. D' Urville was promoted to Rear Admiral, and the Geographical Society awarded him their highest award. The report of this trip was entitled Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l' Océanie, 1837-1840. The government handed over the 130 survivors for a special premium of 150,000 gold francs.
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d' Urville died less than two years later, on 8 May 1842 as passenger in the railway accident at Versailles with his wife and his son. He was buried in Paris's Montparnasse Cemetery. 1844 he erected a monument in his hometown.
An island north of the South Island of New Zealand and an island of the Joinville Island group in the Antarctic as well as a river a New Zealand are named after him.
Publications
- Voyage de la corvette
- Notice sur les îles du Grand Ocean et sur l' origine des peuples qui les habitent. Bulletin de Société de Géographie de Paris .. 17 /1, 1832, 1-21.
- Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l' Océanie, 1837-1840. 23 vols text and 6 Dept. Atlas. Paris ( 1841-54 )