Marion du Fresne
| Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 May 1724 St Malo, Brittany, France |
| Died | 12 June 1772 (aged 48) Tacoury's Cove, Bay of Islands, New Zealand |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Explorer, navigator, cartographer |
| Title | Capitaine de frégate |
| Spouse(s) | Julie Bernardine Guilmaut de Beaulieu |
Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne (22 May 1724 – 12 June 1772), with the surname sometimes spelled Dufresne, was a Breton-born French explorer who made important discoveries in the south Indian Ocean, in Tasmania and in New Zealand. Du Fresne was killed by Maori in 1772.
He is commemorated in various place names, as well as in the name of the research vessel providing logistical support to the French Southern Territories of Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, and Îles Kerguelen, the Marion Dufresne II.
Du Fresne was born in Saint Malo and, until recently, was thought to have joined the French East India Company at the age of 11 as a sub-lieutenant aboard the Duc de Bourgogne. However, the Australian historian Edward Duyker, in the (revised) French edition of his biography of Marion Dufresne, has revealed that this was in fact the future explorer's older brother.
During the War of the Austrian Succession, he commanded several ships and was a captain by 1745. In the Seven Years' War, he was engaged in various naval operations. After the war, he again sailed on the East India routes and eventually settled in Port Louis on Mauritius, where he also was the harbourmaster for some time.
When the French East India Company collapsed and was dissolved in 1769, du Fresne was suddenly unemployed. He convinced Pierre Poivre, the civil administrator, to equip him with two ships and send him on a twofold mission to the Pacific. Du Fresne's fellow explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville had recently returned from the Pacific with a Tahitian native, Ahutoru. Du Fresne was engaged to return Ahutoru to his homeland, and then to explore the south Pacific for Terra Australis Incognita. For these purposes du Fresne was given two ships, the Mascarin and the Marquis de Castries.
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