From Venus to Antarctica

Jules-Sebastien-César Dumont D’Urville (17901842) undertook three global voyages of exploration and is the navigator who made the single greatest contribution to perfecting the map of the Pacific in the nineteenth century. Learned and energetic, he explored the Pacific from Guam to Antarctica, and from New Guinea to Chile, collecting a vast number of natural history specimens and recording extensive hydrographic information. His achievements brought him national recognition in the form of the Legion of Honour, while his scientific contributions earned him the gold medal of the Société de Géographie.