French pharmacist, naturalist and traveller. Geay traded a position with the Compagnie du Canal de Panama for that of collector for the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, a job that would take him on several long expeditions in the New World and Madagascar.

Geay was born in Lacour d'Arcenay, Côte d'Or, and studied pharmacy and sciences in Paris. In particular he shone in the subject of natural history under the tutelage of Alphonse Milne-Edwards. It was also at this time that he forged a friendship with the zoologist Eugène Bouvier at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, who later recommended him as a collector for the museum.

Geay left Paris in 1886 for Central America, employed as a pharmacist in the Compagnie du Canal de Panama. Despite suffering terrible fevers and dysentery on the trip, which occupied him for a year, he immediately looked for another mission after his return. Thus in 1888 he embarked on a government sponsored scientific expedition to Colombia and Venezuela, charged with collecting all kinds of natural history objects for the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. The first year was spent in the Darien, Pacific coast and neighbouring islands, the party arriving in Venezuela in 1890. Geay explored the state of Portuguesa in 1891 before being forced south to the state of Apure by the Venezuelan revolution of 1892. He spent another three years exploring the country's mountains, forests and rivers before sailing back to France with his collections.

He published a series of illustrated articles on the natural resources and industries of Venezuela in La Science Française before saying farewell once more to the shores of his home, this time bound for French Guiana, in 1897. He took with him a new wife, having lost his first wife and son while on his travels in Venezuela. Returning in 1899 he published a report on French Guiana, again bringing back significant botanical, zoological and ethnological collections as well as abundant observations on the country's topography and resources, especially its mineral deposits.

Residing in Paris for the longest stretch of time since his collecting career began, he worked at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle until 1903, when a new challenge arose in the form of an expedition to Madagascar. The indefatigable Geay, having earned the highest praise for the treasures he had gathered in French Guiana, disembarked at Tamatave in September 1904, accompanied by Madame Geay. Again he traversed unexplored regions, amassing fascinating collections both zoological and botanical including curious spiny euphorbias and Pachypodium plants. Living specimens of these were taken back to Paris and cultivated at the natural history museum. They were among 70 cases containing more than 14,000 specimens with which he returned to France in 1907. Within 18 months he had produced a report on his most recent travels, which he published privately (Rapport d'explorations aux régions Nord-Est, Sud-Sud-Ouest, Sud, et Sud-Sud-Est de Madagascar, 1904–1907), and was ready to explore again.

In 1909, therefore, he was back in Madagascar on his way to Australia, where he intended to repeat his successes elsewhere by penetrating the little known interior of the continent. However, it was to be the last voyage for the intrepid Geay. Taken ill while in Madagascar, he nevertheless managed to send a further thousand plant specimens to the museum, as well as fossils and animals, before sailing towards Australia. He succumbed to his malady in Melbourne in May 1910, leaving his devoted wife, who was with him, to arrange for the repatriation of his remains and to organise the dissolution of the expedition. Geay had many honours bestowed on him during his lifetime including the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur and was remembered with great respect for his tireless work for the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle.

Sources:
L.J. Dorr, 2000, "Review: Heckadon-Moreno, Stanley. Naturalistas del Istmo de Panamá" 1998, Taxon, 49(2): 339
F. Geay, 1908, Rapport d'explorations aux régions Nord-Est, Sud-Sud-Ouest, Sud, et Sud-Sud-Est de Madagascar, 1904–1907
E. Perrier, 1910, Bulletin du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 16(4): 176
H. Poisson, 1911, "Francois Geay, Voyageur naturaliste (1859-1910)", Bulletin du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 17(3): 86-90.