Théodore Louis Joseph-Pons d'Arnaud (1811-1884) was a French civil engineer, geographer and naturalist. In 1830 he was hired by the government of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to work on irrigation projects. In 1840-41 he participated in an expedition raised by the

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

of Egypt that searched (unsuccessfully) for the source of the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

. In 1841-42 he explored in the Sudan on an expedition led by

Binbashi A ''binbashi'', alternatively ''bimbashi'', (from , "chief of a thousand", "chiliarch") is a major in the Turkish army, of which term originated in the Ottoman army. The title was also used for a major in the Khedivial Egyptian army as ''Bimba ...

(Major) Selim, a Turkish officer in the Marine d'Alexandrie. Further voyages of exploration took him to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

(1843) and the Sudan (1860). In 1844 d'Arnaud was awarded the

Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations The Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations et Voyages de Découverte (Great Gold Medal of Exploration and Journeys of Discovery) has been awarded since 1829 by the Société de Géographie of France for journeys whose outcomes have enhanced geogr ...

(gold medal for exploration) by French Geographical Society. In 1856 he was appointed as a Lieutenant colonel in an Egyptian regiment. D'Arnaud authored a book on the aquatic plants of the Upper Nile. Two bird species are named in his honour: D'Arnaud's barbet, an East African insectivorous bird, and the

Grey-capped social weaver The grey-capped social weaver (''Pseudonigrita arnaudi'') is a sparrow-like liver-colored bird, with a pale grey crown, a dark grey bill, a whitish eye-ring, horn-colored legs, with some black in the wing and a light terminal band in the tail, th ...

, ''Pseudonigrita arnaudi''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pons d'Arnaud, Joseph 1811 births 1884 deaths French civil engineers 19th-century French explorers French expatriates in Egypt