Pierre-Olivier Malherbe (1569–1616) was a French explorer from the city of Vitré.

Biography

Pierre-Olivier Malherbe went on 27-year world tour, and returned to France in 1609. He has a claim to being the first French circumnavigator.''Asia in the Making of Europe'' p.393
/ref> He visited China, and in India had an encounter with

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. Upon his return, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe met several times with the French king Henry IV, to tell him about the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

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 ...

. He explained about the routes to reach these places, and offered to lead an expedition for the king. Pierre-Olivier Malherbe may have been the author of a

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...

dictionary, which was added to

François Martin de Vitré François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

's work ''La Description du premier voyage fait aux Indes orientales par les Français en l'an 1603'' in 1609. He is mentioned in the 1629 ''Traité de navigation et des voyages de découvertes et conquêtes, principalement des François'' by geographer

Pierre Bergeron Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. In Paris, he also met with the Dutch linguist

Erpenius Thomas van Erpe, also known as Thomas Erpenius (September 11, 1584November 13, 1624), Dutch Orientalist, was born at Gorinchem, in Holland. He was the first European to publish an accurate book of Arabic grammar. After completing his early educa ...

, who was preparing the first Latin–Arab Dictionary.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malherbe, Pierre-Olivier 1569 births 1616 deaths People from Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine French explorers French expatriates in China Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine Explorers of India French expatriates in India Explorers of China

Biography

See also

Notes