Jean-Marie Bayol
| Jean-Marie Bayol | |
|---|---|
Jean-Marie Bayol in 1883
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| Born |
24 December 1849 Eyguières, Bouches du Rhone, France |
| Died | 3 October 1905 (aged 55) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Doctor, Colonial administrator |
| Known for | Conakry city plan |
Jean-Marie Bayol (24 December 1849 – 3 October 1905) was a French army doctor, colonial administrator and politician.
Jean-Marie Bayol was born on 24 December 1849 in Eyguières, Bouches du Rhone, France. He studied medicine in Montpellier, then joined the naval health department in 1869. He was given his doctorate in 1874. He was assigned to the marine artillery.
Bayol's first assignment was on the Venus, which visited the coast of West Africa between 1875 and 1876. He undertook some minor explorations of the Como and Romboé tributaries of the Gabon Estuary in 1878, and explored the Crique Obelo to its source. In 1879 he was made a first class naval doctor. In 1880 he was assigned by Senegal Governor Louis Brière de l'Isle to Captain Joseph Gallieni's expedition in the Upper Niger region. He was give the title of second in command.
Bayol left the naval health service after the Gallieni expedition and joined the colonial administration. In 1881-1882 Bayol and the artist and photographer Ernest Noirot explored part of the Rivières du Sud region of Senegal, which roughly corresponded to modern Guinea. They left on 4 May 1881 on a journey that took them to Fouta Djallon and Bambouk. The expedition aimed to promote trade with the French as an alternative to existing arrangements with British traders in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Bayol found a still-independent theocratic state in the Imamate of Futa Jallon. In July 1881 a treaty between France and Fouta Jallon was signed at Douhol-Fella by the almami Ibrahim Sory, where the French gained various commercial rights in exchange for an annual subsidy of 2,000 francs. The Almamis of Futa Jallon, Ibrahima and Amadou, sent an embassy of five notables that accompanied Bayol and Noirot on their return journey to France in January 1882.
Bayol was assigned a new mission to the Bambara kingdom of Kaarta, leaving Kayes on 23 December 1882. He had to turn back at Touba due to threats from Toucouleur warriors. Returning to Bafoulabé he explored the Guinina and Bamako regions. He left Bamako on 13 March 1883 and again traveled east towards the region near Timbuktu. He signed a treaty with the formerly hostile Bambara chiefs. He returned to Bamako on 27 May 1883.
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