Louis Alexandre Antoine Mizon (1853–99) was a French
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
administrator.
Born 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 ...
in 1853, Mizon entered in the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
in 1869. Between 1880 and 1883 he was at
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà , later known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905), was an Italian-born, naturalized French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogoouà ...
's orders, with whom he had difficulties working. In 1890 he was given the command of an expedition meant to find a viable route between the
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesCongo rivers by passing by the Benue and
. He also led a second mission in 1892 in the same places, meant in particular to establish French control over the Adamawa (in modern
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, NaìjÃrÃyà , yo, Nà ìjÃrÃà , pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
), from which the Benue, the major tributary of the Niger, rises. The plan failed, for the English protested that the claimed territory had been assigned to Britain.
In 1895 Mizon was nominated
Resident
Resident may refer to:
People and functions
* Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country
* Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training
* Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...
, at the orders of the governor-general of Madagascar, a position he held between 5 August 1897 and 11 March 1899. Nominated governor of
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
on 7 March 1899, he died, probably through suicide, on 23 March, before reaching his post.
See also
* S'Nabou - Mizon's interpreter in the period 1890-1892