Panayotis Potagos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Παναγιώτης Ποταγός; 1838 – 1903) was a

physician and explorer born in

Vytina Vytina ( el, Βυτίνα, ''Vytína'') is a mountain village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. It is considered a traditional settlement. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia ...

. Potagos began his travels in 1867, visiting

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

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 ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He arrived in Egypt in 1876, ascending the

Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

to southern Sudan and then crossed the

Congo-Nile Divide The Congo-Nile Divide (or Nile Congo Watershed) is the continental divide that separates the drainage basins of the Nile and Congo rivers. It is about long. There are several geologically and geographically distinct sections between the point on ...

into the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

basin through what is now the Central African Republic and finally reached the

Uele River The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Course The Uele forms at Dungu, at the confluence of the Dungu and Kibali rivers, which both originate ...

in 1877. He was the first European to reach the

Mbomou :''Mbomou'' can also refer to the Mbomou River. Mbomou is one of the sixteen prefectures of the Central African Republic. It covers an area of and has a population of 132,740 (according to a 2003 census), giving a population density of only 2.2 ...

and Uele rivers from the north. He published an account of his travels, which was translated into French. He died in the village of

Nymfes Nymfes ( el, Νύμφες meaning nymphs) is a village in the northern part of the island of Corfu, Greece. It was the seat of the municipality of Thinali. In 2011 its population was 642 for the village and 995 for the community, which includes t ...

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

References

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

*A biographical dictionary of the Sudan by Richard Leslie Hill
Sur le voyage de M. Panagiotis Potagos en Asie centrale - 1880

External links

Dix années de voyages dans l'Asie centrale et l'Afrique équatoriale by Papagiotis Potagos (1885)
- Google Books Greek explorers Greek physicians 20th-century Greek physicians 19th-century Greek physicians 1903 deaths 1839 births 19th-century explorers Explorers of Africa Explorers of Asia Explorers of Central Asia People from Vytina {{greece-bio-stub