Charlotte-Adélaïde Dard (14 September 1798 – 2 November 1862) was a French writer best known for ''La Chaumière africaine ou Histoire d'une famille française jetée sur la côte occidentale de l'Afrique à la suite du naufrage de la frégate La Méduse'', an autobiographical account of events following a shipwreck off the west coast of Africa.

Biography

The daughter of Charles Picard, an infantry captain, she was born Charlotte-Adélaïde Picard in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She travelled with her family to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

on the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

'' Méduse'' in 1816 one year after England returned control of the country to France. Due to errors by the ship's captain, ''Méduse'' was wrecked off the coast of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

. The family was able to escape the sinking frigate in a lifeboat which eventually reached the coast and, after walking for several days, they reached Saint-Louis. Her father lost his French civil service position in Senegal and the family was forced to support itself by growing food and harvesting cotton on a plantation that her father had purchased. In 1820, she married Jean Dard, a teacher who had taken responsibility for the Picard children following their father's death. The couple moved to Bligny-lès-Beaune in France where her husband had been hired as a teacher and secretary for the town. Dard published her account of the events surrounding the shipwreck in 1824; an English translation was published in 1827. The couple returned to Senegal in 1832. Dard died in Saint-Louis at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dard, Charlotte-Adelaide 1798 births 1862 deaths 19th-century French women writers French women memoirists 19th-century French memoirists