Auguste Léopold Protet (; 1808 – 1862) was a

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. He founded

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, fought in the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

, and was killed in the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

at the

Fengxian District Fengxian District, is a suburban district in the south of Shanghai with a land area of , a registered population (as of 2010) of 1,083,400, and 1.5 to 2 times more migrants. It is known for its relative rusticity, as well as its beaches and oc ...

of Shanghai on the afternoon of 17 May 1862. He was born at

Saint-Servan Saint-Servan (often abbreviated as St. Servan; br, Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants. History In June 1758, during the Seven Ye ...

, France, and at sixteen he was admitted into the naval school of Angoulême. When he was 38, he received the commission of captain in the royal navy. At this time the English and French governments combined their efforts to put an end to the slave trade on the African coast, and Protet was employed in that service. After cruising three years on the coast of Africa he was appointed governor of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, where he remained from 1850 to 1855. He served during the war with China, and was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. He subsequently joined the expedition against the Taiping, who threatened an attack upon Shanghai, and he was killed during the engagement at Nanjao (). The French troops massacred 3,000 men, women and children in a nearby Chinese village in revenge for his death.Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War. Stephen R. Platt, 2012 The French

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

(corvette) ''Protet'' (F742) was named after him and saw active service until the 1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protet, Auguste Leopold 1808 births 1862 deaths French military personnel of the Second Opium War French military personnel killed in action People of the Taiping Rebellion French Navy admirals People of colonial Senegal French city founders

See also

References