1729-1811

French Explorer

Leader of the first French circumnavigation of the globe (1767-69), Louis Antoine de Bougainville explored the South Atlantic and Polynesia before reaching the Great Barrier Reef around Australia. He discovered a number of the Solomon Islands, including one named for him, before making his way back to his point of origin. In the course of the voyage, he and his crew learned that, unbeknownst to them, their party included the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.

Born in Paris in 1729, Bougainville was raised as a member of the French nobility. He was trained for a career in the military, and obtained his first fighting experience in Quebec during the Seven Years War (1756-63), known in North America as the French and Indian War. After his superior, General Montcalm, was killed, Bougainville spent the remainder of the war fighting in Germany.

France...