Jacques Eliacin François Marie Paganel is one of the main characters in

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's 1867-68 novel '' In Search of the Castaways'' (original title ''Les Enfants du capitaine Grant''). Paganel represents the

absent-minded professor The absent-minded professor is a stock character of popular fiction, usually portrayed as a talented academic whose academic brilliance is accompanied by below-par functioning in other areas, leading to forgetfulness and mistakes. One explanati ...

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

. Verne gives a memorable characterisation of his hero: In the novel, Paganel is the "Secretary of the Geographical Society of

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 ...

, Corresponding Member of the Societies of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, Leipsic,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, St. Petersburg,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; Honorary Member of the Royal Geographical and Ethnographical Institute of the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

"
/sup>. After many years of being a cabinet professor, he decides to take a voyage to India, but by mistake boards the protagonists' yacht ''Duncan'' (which is going to Patagonia), the first of Paganel's absent-minded actions. A further mistake was to learn the

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...

accidentally, rather than Spanish. Paganel studied ''

The Lusiads ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' of Camoens over six weeks, believing the poem to be written in Spanish.Chapter XV, "Jacques Paganel's Spanish". Nevertheless, Paganel proves to be an important member of the search party. His interpretation of the documents is vital in the advancement of the novel; he also provides numerous geographical references and is a constant source of humor.

In film and television

Actors who have played Paganel on the screen include: * Nikolai Cherkasov, in ''The Children of Captain Grant'' (1936) *

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", "Louise", " Mimi", and "Thank Hea ...

, in '' In Search of the Castaways'' (1962) *

Lembit Ulfsak Lembit Ulfsak (4 July 1947 – 22 March 2017) was a prominent Estonian stage and film actor. Ulfsak starred in the 2014 film ''Tangerines'' which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. It was also among the f ...

, in ''

In Search of Captain Grant ''In Search for Captain Grant'' (russian: В поисках капитана Гранта, bg, По следите на капитан Грант) is a 1986 Soviet 7 episodes television miniseries adaptation of Jules Verne's 1868 novel ''In Searc ...

'' (1985)

References

Jules Verne characters Fictional French people in literature Fictional scientists Literary characters introduced in 1868 {{novel-char-stub