Conrad Malte-Brun (12 August 177514 December 1826), born Malthe Conrad Bruun, and sometimes referred to simply as Malte-Brun, was a Dano- French

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and journalist. His second son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, was also a geographer. Today he is perhaps best remembered for coining the name for the geographic region

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

(French ''Océanie'') around 1812, he also coined the name

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Biography

Born in

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)crown lands, Malte-Brun was originally destined for a career as a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, but chose instead to attend classes at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

, and became a supporter of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and an activist in favor of freedom of the press. Following the harsh censorship laws instituted by the Danish ruler crown prince

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

in September 1799, he was indicted because of his many pamphlets which contained outright criticism of the government, which the new censorship laws forbade. A particular cause for offence was a pamphlet he published in 1795 entitled "Catechism of the Aristocrats." The case of

Peter Andreas Heiberg Peter Andreas Heiberg (16 November 1758 – 30 April 1841) was a Danish-Norwegian author and philologist. He was born in Vordingborg, Denmark-Norway. The Heiberg ancestry can be traced back to Norway, and has produced a long line of priests, he ...

, who for similar crimes had been sentenced to exile at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

of 1799, did not make Malte-Brun optimistic about his prospects. He had already left the country prior to the court sentence (which was first carried late 1800) and had settled first in Sweden, later in the Free City of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. At some point during his exile, he started using his Danish first name, Malthe, as part of his surname, Bruun. 1837 Malte-Brun Map of China and Japan - Geographicus - China-mb-1837

1837 Malte-Brun Map of China and Japan - Geographicus - China-mb-1837

Malte-Brun arrived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in November 1799, and began work on a geography treatise meant as a gift to his adoptive country. A poem on the death of

Andreas Peter Bernstorff Andreas Peter Bernstorff (28 August 173521 June 1797), also known as Andreas Peter Graf von Bernstorff, was a Danish diplomat and Foreign Minister. He was a guardian of civil and political liberty. Background and early career Bernstorff was bo ...

which he published during his exile procured for him permission to return to Denmark. But another pamphlet against the aristocracy subjected him to a new prosecution, and he left his country, and finally took up his residence in Paris. In December 1800, the Danish courts pronounced sentence of perpetual banishment against him, which was rescinded about the time of his death. Malte-Brun's geography treatise was written with the help of Edme Mentelle, a professor at the

École Normale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

; together, they produced ''Géographie mathématique, physique et politique de toutes les parties du monde'' (6 vols., published between 1803 and 1812). He was a regular contributor to ''

Journal des Débats The ''Journal des débats'' ( French for: Journal of Debates) was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the ou ...

''. He at first opposed the consular government, but subsequently became a zealous

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

, and after the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

an equally zealous monarchist, publishing in 1824 ''Traité de la légitimité considérée comme base du droit public de l'Europe chrétienne''. Aside from his political writings, he devoted himself especially to geographical studies. He was the founder of ''Les Annales des Voyages'' (in 1807) and ''Les Annales des Voyages, de la Géographie et de l'Histoire'' (in 1819), which encouraged observations and reports as a basis for research. He became well known after contributing ''Tableau de la Pologne'', a treatise on the geography of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(in 1807, as the

First Empire First Empire may refer to: * First British Empire, sometimes used to describe the British Empire between 1583 and 1783 * First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018) *First French Empire (1804–1814/1815) * First German Empire or "First Reich", sometimes u ...

troops established French tutelage in the region). In 1822-1824, he served as the first general secretary of the newly founded ''

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 ...

''. Malte-Brun was the first person to suggest importing camels into Australia. See

Australian feral camel Australian feral camels are feral populations of dromedaries (''Camelus dromedarius'') in Australia. Imported from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the central an ...

. The importance of Malte-Bruns work can be seen also in

Albanology Albanology, also known as Albanian studies, is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the language, costume, literature, art, culture and history of Albanians. Within the studies the scientific methods of literature, ling ...

. In his sixth volume of ''Universal Geography'' published in 1826 an original

Albanian alphabet The Albanian alphabet ( sq, alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters: ''Note:'' The vowels are shown in bold. The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë ...

is mentioned (erroneously thought to be from the first milenium), that opened a hole new research perspective followed by

Johann Georg von Hahn Johann Georg von Hahn (11 July 1811 – 23 September 1869) was an Austrian and later Austro-Hungarian diplomat, philologist and specialist in Albanian history, language and culture. Hahn was born in Frankfurt am Main. In 1847, he was named Aust ...

, Leopold Geitler,

Gjergj Pekmezi Gjergj Pekmezi (23 April 1872 – 24 February 1938) was an Albanian linguist, philosopher, folklorist and diplomat. In 1916, he became a member of the Literary Commission of Shkodër, which established the first standard form of the Albanian ...

and others. Seven original Albanian alphabets have been discovered since.Robert Elsie (2017). Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented, Kindle Edition He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

in 1826, as he was drafting the final version of his major work, the ''Précis de Géographie Universelle ou Description de toutes les parties du monde''. This appeared in eight volumes (1810–29), the last two volumes being by Huot. Malte-Brun's name was given to streets in both Paris (

20th arrondissement The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () af ...

) and Thisted.

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malte-Brun, Conrad 1775 births 1826 deaths Danish emigrants to France Danish geographers French geographers French journalists French travel writers 19th-century geographers French male non-fiction writers People from Thisted 19th-century French male writers

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links