Jean-François Xavier Rousseau (16 October 1738,

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

- 12 May 1808,

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

) was a French diplomat and orientalist, nicknamed 'Rousseau of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

' (''Rousseau de Perse'').

Life

He was the son of the

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

-born watchmaker and diplomat Jacques Rousseau (1683-1753) and Reine de l’Estoile. From 1757 Jean-François Rousseau was deputy director of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in the ...

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

while conducting diplomatic and trade missions in Persia. After the death of Claude Pirault, the Company's director, Rousseau took over his duties but not his title and continued successfully to defend French interests against competing claims, negotiated Persian-Ottoman relations and protected the rights of French resident aliens in the area. In 1772 he married Anne-Marie Sahid, daughter of the Isfahan-born interpreter Joseph Sahid. The couple returned to France at the end of 1780, where Rousseau was appointed consul at Basra, returning in 1782. He was accompanied by the botanist

André Michaux André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Per ...

and in Aleppo also joined up with abbé

Pierre-Joseph de Beauchamp Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp (28 June 1752, Vesoul 18 November 1801, Nice) was a French diplomat, clergyman and astronomer. He was the son of the lawyer Xavier de Beauchamp. He was made vicar general to his uncle Miroudot du Bourg, titular bishop ...

, who was not only an astronomer but also

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of Baghdad. Rousseau, Michaux and de Beauchamp travelled with the

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

from Aleppo to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

in September and October 1782. Régis Pluchet, ''L'extraordinaire voyage d'un botaniste en Perse : André Michaux - 1782-1785'', éditions Privat, 2014, Toulouse. From 1783 Rousseau also acted as consul in Baghdad, a consulate previously attached to that in Basra. Rousseau spoke seven foreign languages (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Portuguese, Italian and English) and was a major orientalist. His son

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

succeeded him as consul at Basra in 1805, before becoming consul-general at Aleppo and to the

Tripoli Eyalet Tripoli Eyalet ( ota, ایالت طرابلس شام, Eyālet-i Ṭrāblus-ı Şām; ar, طرابلس الشام) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The capital was in Tripoli, Lebanon. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It extended ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousseau, Jean-Francois French orientalists 1738 births 1808 deaths 18th-century French diplomats 19th-century French diplomats Ambassadors of France to Iran Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire People from Isfahan