Théodore Louis Joseph-Pons d'Arnaud was a French civil engineer, geographer and naturalist. In 1830 he was hired by the government of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
to work on irrigation projects. In 1840-41 he participated in an expedition raised by the
Pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...
of Egypt that searched (unsuccessfully) for the source of the
White Nile. In 1841-42 he explored in the Sudan on an expedition led by
Binbashi
A ''binbashi'', alternatively ''bimbashi'', (from tr, Binbaşı, "chief of a thousand", "chiliarch") is a major in the Turkish army, of which term originated in the Ottoman army. The title was also used for a major in the Khedivial Egyptian a ...
(Major) Selim, a Turkish officer in the Marine d'Alexandrie. Further voyages of exploration took him to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
(1843) and the Sudan (1860).
In 1844 d'Arnaud was awarded the
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 geog ...
(gold medal for exploration) by French
Geographical Society. In 1856 he was appointed as a Lieutenant colonel in an Egyptian regiment.
D'Arnaud authored a book on the aquatic plants of the Upper Nile. Two bird species are named in his honour:
D'Arnaud's barbet
D'Arnaud's barbet (''Trachyphonus darnaudii'') is a species of African barbet. Barbets and toucans are a group of near passerine birds with a worldwide tropical distribution. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy ...
, an East African insectivorous bird, and the
Grey-capped social weaver
The grey-capped social weaver (''Pseudonigrita arnaudi'') is a sparrow-like liver-colored bird, with a pale grey crown, a dark grey bill, a whitish eye-ring, horn-colored legs, with some black in the wing and a light terminal band in the tail, th ...
, ''Pseudonigrita arnaudi''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pons d'Arnaud, Joseph
1811 births
1884 deaths
French civil engineers
French explorers