Fernand Foureau (17 October 1850 – 17 January 1914) was a French explorer and

Governor of Martinique (Dates in italics indicate ''de facto'' continuation of office) Ancien regime and First Republic (1635-1794) British occupation (1794–1814) Restoration, Second Republic, Second Empire (1814–70) Third Republic (1870–1940) Fourth a ...

from 1908 to 1913. He was born at the Château de Frédière at Saint-Barbant in

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...

in the

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

region of France. He studied under Henri Duveyrier, the Saharan explorer, who developed Foureau's own interest in the subject. Once in the Sahara, Foureau carried out the first artesian well drilling for the company Oued RIHR and then became famous for his numerous study trips in the desert from 1882, which earned him several awards from the French

Société de géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

.''Nécrologie de Fernand Foureau''
by Henri Schirmer in the ''

Annales de Géographie The ''Annales de Géographie'' is a French journal devoted to geography, first published in 1891. From the start the journal was an influential and respected academic journal. History The ''Annales de Géographie'' was founded in 1891 by Paul Vid ...

'', 1914, vol.23 , pp. 179-182.''Fernand Foureau's Obituary''
in ''

The Geographical Journal ''The Geographical Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). It publishes papers covering research on all aspects of geography. It also publishes shorter C ...

'', vol. 43-5, 1914, p. 587-588. Between 1888 and 1896 he also made nine expeditions to southern Algeria to study the feasibility of a trans-Saharan railway line from

Ouargla Ouargla ( Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune ...

In Salah In Salah or officially Aïn Salah ( ar, عين صالح) is the oasis town in central Algeria that is the capital of the In Salah Province and In Salah District. It was once an important trade link of the trans-Saharan caravan route. As of the 2 ...

. From 1898 to 1900 he undertook the long journey from Ouargla to

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

with Army officer

Amédée-François Lamy Amédée-François Lamy was a French military officer. He was born at Mougins, in the French ''département'' of Alpes-Maritimes on 7 February 1858 and died in the battle of Kousséri on 22 April 1900. Early years Lamy's ambition to become an ...

, known as the Foureau-Lamy Mission, which was part of the French strategy to conquer

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and unify all French dominions in West Africa. He made maps, established trans-Saharan routes and performed numerous geographical and meteorological surveys. In 1901 he was awarded the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

of the French

Société de Géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

. In 1906 he was appointed Governor of Mayotte and Comoros and from 1908 to 1913 served as

Honours and awards

* 1889 : Prix Erhard of the Société de géographie * 1895 : Prix Duveyrier of the Société de géographie * 1896 : Prix Janssen of the Société de géographie for his work on the Sahara and the Grande médaille d'or of the société de géographie of Marseille. * 1899 :

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

of London. * 1901 :

Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations The Grande Médaille d’Or des Explorations et Voyages de Découverte (Great Gold Medal of Exploration and Journeys of Discovery) has been awarded since 1829 by the Société de Géographie of France for journeys whose outcomes have enhanced geogr ...

of the Société de géographie * 1901 :

Prix Leconte The Leconte Prize ( French: ') is a prize created in 1886 by the French Academy of Sciences to recognize important discoveries in mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural history or medicine. In recent years the prize has been awarded in the speci ...

of the

Paris Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

* 1913 : Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(chevalier in 1894, officer in 1900). He also received the colonial medal with clasp " Mission Saharan Africa" , was raised to the rank of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and Grand Officer of the Order of the Dragon of Annam.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foureau, Fernand 1850 births 1914 deaths French explorers French Governors of Martinique