Pierre Sonnerat (18 August 1748 – 31 March 1814) was a French naturalist, colonial administrator, writer and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

. He described numerous species of plants and animals on his travels and is honoured in the genus ''Sonneratia'' and in other specific names such as that of the

grey junglefowl The gray junglefowl (''Gallus sonneratii''), also known as Sonnerat's junglefowl, is one of the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken together with the red junglefowl and other junglefowls. The species epithet commemorates the French explore ...

''Gallus sonneratii.''

Life and travels

Sonnerat was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

and was the nephew of the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Pierre Poivre (mother of Pierre Sonnerat, Benoîte Poivre, was a cousine of Pierre Poivre) who was a French colonial administrator in the

Mascarenes The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

. Sonnerat became a private secretary to his uncle Pierre and made several voyages to southeast

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, visiting the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

between 1769 and 1772. In Mauritius Sonnerat met the naturalist Philibert Commerson in 1767 and worked for him briefly, travelling to Reunion. He then worked as a naval commissar and travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

from 1774 to 1781 with a base in Yanam and

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

. From 1781 to 1785 he was in France where he married Marguerite Ménissier. In 1786 he was posted in Pondicherry. Travelling around the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, he examined parts of southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, southern India and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In 1789 he was posted at Yanam and in 1795 he was briefly held prisoner of war by the English administration as England and France had gone to war. Sonnerat returned to Europe in 1813, meeting

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

in London and returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1814 where he died.

Natural history

Sonnerat collected bird and plant specimens on his travels. He was the first person to give a scientific description of the south Chinese fruit tree

lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...

. It has been claimed that Sonnerat misinterpreted the call of a helpful Malagasy guide who had spotted a

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

and shouted "indri!" ("look!" in Malagasy). Sonnerat supposedly took this by "mistake" to be the animal's name, and it was called the

Indri The indri (; ''Indri indri''), also called the babakoto, is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-body length of about and a weight of between . It has a black and white coat and maintains an upright posture when climbing or clinging. ...

(''Indri indri''). This claim has been re-examined and it would appear that Sonnerat actually recorded a local name ''endrina'' which is still in use. The birds ''

Dacelo novaeguineae The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...

'' and ''

Pygoscelis papua The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The earl ...

'', neither of which are found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

(Papua), were also misnamed due to Sonnerat. His books included ''Voyage à la Nouvelle-Guinée'' (1776) and ''Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781'' (1782). The standard botanical author abbreviation Sonn. is applied to plants he described. His name is used in the specific name of the

(''Gallus sonneratii''). A species of shrew in the genus ''Crocidura'' (or ''Diplomesodon'') which has been described based on his manuscripts as ''

Diplomesodon sonnerati Sonnerat's shrew (''Diplomesodon sonnerati'' or ''Crocidura sonnerati'') is a species of shrew that was first described by Pierre Sonnerat from Pondicherry somewhere in 1813. Description It was described as being larger than the commoner '' Sun ...

'' is thought to have become extinct and was collected from around Pondicherry.

References

Biography

* Ly-Tio-Fane, Madeleine (1976). Pierre Sonnerat 1748–1814. An account of his life and work. Self published. Mauritius.

External links

* ''Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinée'' − by Pierre Sonnerat (1776
Linda Hall LibraryBiblioteca Digital Real Jardin Botanico

Gallica.bnf.fr: ''Illustrations de Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée''
—
Collection de planches pour servir au Voyage aux Indes Orientales et a la Chine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnerat, Pierre French explorers French naturalists 1748 births 1814 deaths Botanists active in China Botanists active in India Botanists active in the Pacific Botanists with author abbreviations 18th-century explorers 18th-century French botanists 19th-century French botanists 18th-century French zoologists 19th-century French zoologists Scientists from Lyon

Life and travels

Natural history

See also

References

Biography

External links