François de Peynier, vicomte de Souillac was born on 2 July 1732 in

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...

. He was Governor of Isle Bourbon (now Réunion), Governor General of the Mascarene Islands and Pondichéry.

Biography

Souillac joined the Navy as a

Garde-Marine In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen undergoing training to be naval officers. The training program was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1670 and lasted until A ...

on 24 September 1744. He was promoted to Ensign in 1749, Lieutenant in 1757, and to Captain in 1772. From 1775, he was military commander of Isle Bourbon (now

La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

). On 15 October 1776, Souillac wrote an ordinance founding the "Quartier du Repos de Laleu". On 8 March 1777, he issue another decree attempting to make hunting for the runaway slaves more humane. Souillac served in the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

under Suffren. On 1 May 1779 he became Governor General by interim of the islands of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and Bourbon. On 30 January 1780 he was confirmed in that position. Souillac was promoted to

Chef d'escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

in 1784. He left the Indian Ocean in 1787 and died in 1803.

Legacy

Today a village of

is named after him. There is a street named after him in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

. A small beach in the Port Glaud district of Mahé, Seychelles is named "Anse Souillac" after him.

Titles

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * French colonial governors and administrators Governors of Réunion Governors of French India {{Réunion-bio-stub