Guy Tachard

Father Guy Tachard
Father Guy Tachard (1651-1712), drawn by Carlo Maratta.
Religion	Roman Catholic
Other names	Père Tachard
Personal
Born	1651 Marthon, France
Died	1712 (aged 60–61) Chandernagor, India
Senior posting
Based in	Kingdom of Siam
Title	Jesuit missionary

Guy Tachard (1651–1712), also known as Père Tachard, was a French Jesuit missionary and mathematician of the 17th century, who was sent on two occasions to the Kingdom of Siam by Louis XIV. He was born in Marthon, near Angoulême.

In 1680, Tachard went to the Caribbean (Antilles) with Jean II d'Estrées.

Tachard was involved in embassies to Siam, which came as responses to embassies sent by the Siamese King Narai to France in order to obtain an alliance against the Dutch.

Tachard was sent in 1685 with five other Jesuits under Superior Jean de Fontaney, on a first French embassy to Siam led by Chevalier de Chaumont and François-Timoléon de Choisy, and accompanied by Claude de Forbin. The objective of the Jesuits was to complete a scientific expedition to the Indies and China. Enticed by the Greek Constantine Phaulkon, he returned to France to suggest an alliance with the king of Siam Narai to Louis XIV.

The five other Jesuits Fathers continued to China where they arrived in February 1688: Jean de Fontaney (1643–1710), Joachim Bouvet (1656–1730), Jean-François Gerbillon (1654–1707), Louis Le Comte (1655–1728) and Claude de Visdelou (1656–1737).