Onésime Reclus (22 September 1837 – 30 June 1916) was a French

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

who specialized in the relations between France and its colonies. In 1880 he coined the term "

Francophonie Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The t ...

" as a means of classification of peoples of the world, being determined by the language they all spoke. While this term did not appear in dictionaries until 1930, it has become more important since the late 20th century as part of conceptual rethinking of cultures and geography.

Early life and education

Onésime was born as the middle of five sons of Jacques Reclus (1796–1882), a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minister, and his wife. His brothers also became notable in their fields. His family had moved to Orthez from

Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (; oc, Senta Fe la Granda) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is on the south bank of the Dordogne. History The town was founded in 1076, near a priory where Sainte Foy w ...

, where at least one of his brothers was born. His next older and younger brothers both became geographers: * Élie Reclus (1827–1904),

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and political activist *

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

(1830–1905), award-winning geographer and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

* (1843–1927), geographer and explorer * Paul Reclus (1847–1914), surgeon.

Career

Reclus became a geographer. He was particularly interested in France and its colonies, which was the subject of his first book, published in 1873. By this time,

France's colonies The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that existe ...

in Africa were more important than those in the Caribbean, and it had lost or given up those in North America by the early 19th century. But its history of deep involvement in colonial development in North America continued to influence its politics. From 1869, Reclus was a member of the

Société de Géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

. He was a contributor to the journal ''Tour du monde.'' In 1880 Reclus coined the term "

" as a means of classification of peoples of the world who spoke the French language. He believed that people were connected by their language and culture, for instance, the continental French as well as French speakers in the Caribbean and Africa. While this term did not appear in dictionaries until 1930, it has become more important since the late 20th century as part of conceptual rethinking by historians, geographers, anthropologists and others of cultures and geography. For instance, there has been study of the state of Louisiana, and especially the city of New Orleans, as places of strong French-language culture. Reclus continued to be interested in issues related to France and its colonies, publishing a book on France and Algeria in 1886.

Selected writings

* ''Géographie de la France et de ses colonies,'' 1873 * ''Géographie : La Terre à vol d’oiseau'', 1877 * ''France, Algérie et colonies,'' 1886 * ''À la France : sites et monuments,'' 1900–1906 * ''Lâchons l’Asie, prenons l’Afrique : Où renaître ? et comment durer ?,'' 1904 * ''Atlas pittoresque de la France, recueil de vues géographiques et pittoresques de tous les départements, accompagnées de notices géographiques et de légendes explicatives,'' 1910–1912.Societes savantes
(publications)

Marriage and family

He married and had a family. One of their sons was the noted

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

(1883–1972).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reclus, Onesime French geographers French Protestants 1916 deaths People from Orthez 1837 births 19th-century French writers 20th-century French non-fiction writers French male writers Members of the Ligue de la patrie française French people of the Franco-Prussian War Onesime