Oscar Mac Carthy (2 July 1815 – 23 December 1894) was a French

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, geographer, archaeologist, librarian, and expert on the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

Early life and family

Oscar Louis Alfred Mac Carthy was born in Paris on 2 July 1815. His father was John MacCarthy also known as Jack or Jacque, an Irish immigrant from Cork who had come to France to enlist in the Napoleonic army. His father led the defence of Laghy and the castle at Compiegne, and fought at Waterloo. He was also one of the founders of the .

Career

Mac Carthy worked for his father as an informal apprentice, collecting data and statistics for geographical publications. By 1830, he had been awarded three medals and a prize of 1000 francs for his regional statistical studies of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He left Paris in 1848 for

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. He spent two years preparing physically and mentally for the exploration he wished to undertake, learning

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

in this time. He spent the next 14 years exploring and surveying the

and published his findings. He had planned to visit

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

, and had permission to enter, by traversing the desert north to south but called off the expedition in 1859 as he deemed it too dangerous. He settled in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in 1863, where he wrote, published and produced maps of the desert. A fervent colonial imperialist, he drew up maps proposing railway lines across the desert, work which was used by French proponents of a north African railway. In 1869 he was appointed librarian of the Algiers Library and Museum. Among the many people who sought out his extensive knowledge of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

was Charles de Foucauld, whom Mac Carthy tutored and of whom he became a close acquaintance. Foucauld dedicated his book, ''Reconnaissance au Maroc'', to Mac Carthy. He was a founding member of the , and . Mac Carthy retired from the Library in 1891. He died in Algiers in 1894.

Publications

*''Algeria Romana'' (Paris, 1858) *''Geographique physique'' (Paris, 1859)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy, Oscar 1815 births 1894 deaths 19th-century French people French geographers Explorers from Paris