Étienne de Flacourt (1607–1660) was a French governor of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

, born in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

in 1648. Flacourt restored order among the French soldiers, who had mutinied. In his dealings with the Malagasy, he was less successful; he was continually harassed by their intrigues and attacks during his entire term of office. In 1655 he returned to France and, not long after, he was appointed director general of the company; after again returning to Madagascar, he drowned on his voyage home on the 10th of June 1660. He is the author of a ''Histoire de la grande isle de Madagascar'' (1st edition 1658, 2nd edition 1661). Flacourt was one of the few, if not the only, Westerners to have recorded knowledge of the

elephant bird Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have become extinct around 1000-1200 CE, probably as a result of human activity. ...

s of Madagascar when they were possibly still extant. '' Flacourtia'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s in the

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

family,

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

, was named in his honor .

Notes

References

* This cites: ** Arthur Malotet, ''Ét. de Flacourt, ou les origines de la colonisation française à Madagascar (1648–1661)'', (Paris, 1898). *

External links

*
Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar
' – online book (French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flacourt, Etienne de Colonial Governors of French Madagascar 17th-century French people 1607 births 1660 deaths People from Orléans French colonial governors and administrators