Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse

Lore & Background

Lapérouse was born on 23 August 1741 near Albi, France, into a family ennobled in 1558. He studied at a Jesuit college and joined the French Royal Navy as a Garde-Marine in Brest on 19 November 1756. He served on the Célèbre during supply expeditions to Louisbourg in 1757 and 1758, and was wounded at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, where he was captured by the British and later exchanged. In 1762 he participated in a French attempt to gain control of Newfoundland. During the Anglo-French War (1778), he commanded the frigate Amazone, capturing HMS Ariel in 1779. Promoted to captain in 1780, he served in the Expédition Particulière under Admiral Ternay, later transferring to Astrée. He escorted a convoy to the West Indies in 1781, fought at St. Kitts in 1782, and at the Battle of the Saintes. In August 1782, he captured two British trading posts on Hudson Bay but allowed prisoners to sail to England in exchange for a promise to release French prisoners. His family consented to his marriage to Louise-Eléonore Broudou in 1783.

Reader's Guide

Lapérouse's significance lies in his command of a major French scientific expedition (1785–c. 1788) that sought to complete the Pacific discoveries of James Cook, correct maps, establish trade contacts, and assess British colonial intentions at Botany Bay. His ships, L'Astrolabe and La Boussole, carried ten scientists and employed Cook's methods for longitude calculation. The expedition visited Chile, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Macau, the Philippines, Korea, Russia, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, and Australia. Lapérouse arrived at Botany Bay days after the First Fleet, but Governor Arthur Phillip had already moved the fleet to Port Jackson. The expedition ended when both ships wrecked on the reefs of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands. His voyage contributed to scientific mapping and highlighted Franco-British rivalry in the Pacific, though his death left many objectives unfulfilled.

Did You Know?

• Lapérouse was appointed in 1785 by Louis XVI and the Marquis de Castries to lead the expedition.
• A 16-year-old Corsican named Napoléon Bonaparte applied for the voyage but was not chosen.
• Lapérouse captured two British trading posts on Hudson Bay in August 1782.
• His ships wrecked on the reefs of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands around 1788.