1636?-1710

French-born Canadian adventurer who with brother-in-law Médard Chouart des Groseilliers journeyed into the Canadian wilderness north of Lake Superior, became fur traders and eventually set up the English Hudson's Bay Company. After their early success as fur traders, Radisson and Groseilliers traveled to France to sell their pelts. The French authorities seized many of their furs, and the two men turned their attention to England where Radisson received financial support along with a charter to establish Hudson's Bay Company in 1670.