Biography
French monk, astronomer, geographer, explorer, and botanist. Born at Mane, Provence, in 1660, he was placed by his parents, who had little money to raise him, as a porter in the Minim monastery. With a gift for mathematics and astronomy, to continue his studies he took the only route open to him by becoming a monk.
He rapidly acquired a reputation with members of the Académie des Sciences. Eager to apply his talents to geography and hydrography, the opportunity finally arose in 1699 when he was chosen to accompany Giovanni Domenico Cassini on a voyage to the Levant to determine the position of various seaports and towns.
The success of this mission encouraged him to apply to the king for another expedition, this time to the Antilles. Arriving in Martinique in April 1703, he nearly succumbed to a severe illness, but in September 1704, had sufficiently recovered to embark with a crew of buccaneers on their travels along the northern coast of South America, with stops at Puerto Cabello, Santa Marta, Porto Belo, and Cartagena. Before his return to France in June 1706, he also explored the northern and western Antilles. He brought back with him new species of plants, a map of Martinique, and observations from numerous ports, all of which were greatly appreciated by the Académie des Sciences and by Louis XIV, who gave him the title of Royal Mathematician.
Feuillée immediately began preparations for a more extensive voyage along the western coast of South America. Armed with letters from the ministry, he set sail from Marseilles on 14 December 1707 and, after a difficult passage, finally reached Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 20 December 1708. Rounding Cape Horn, he arrived in Concepcíon, Chile, on 20 January 1709, and spent a month there conducting astronomical, botanical, and zoological surveys, before resuming his mission to redraw the map of the western coast. From his base in Lima, he visited the principal towns of Peru, and made astronomical observations, drew maps, described the inhabitants, and collected many plants and minerals.
He arrived back in France on 27 August 1711 and, shortly afterwards, presented the king with a large volume in folio in which he had drawn examples of the natural history of the countries he visited. In recognition of his services, Louis XIV accorded him a pension and had an observatory built for him at Marseilles. His Journal des Observations Physiques, Mathématiques, et Botaniques was published in Paris in 1714.
He made his fourth, and final, voyage in 1724, when he was sent to the Canaries by the Académie des Sciences to determine the meridian at Hierro. He died in Marseilles in 1732. The first to describe many South American plants, he is commemorated in the genus Fevillea L. (Curcubitaceae). The lunar crater Feuillée is also named in his honour.
Sources:
L. Allorge, 2003, La Fabuleuse Odyssée des Plantes: les Botanistes Voyageurs, les Jardins des Plantes, les Herbiers: 331-342
J.C.F. Hoefer, 1852, Nouvelle Biographie Generale.
