Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie

Arnaud-Michel d'Ábbadie
Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie
Born	July 24, 1815 Dublin, Ireland
Died	November 13, 1893 Urrugne, France
Citizenship	France
Nationality	Irish, French, Basque
Fields	Geographer

Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie (24 July 1815 – 13 November 1893) was a French and Basque geographer, and along with his older brother Antoine-Thomson d'Abbadie, was notable for his travels in Ethiopia.^{[nb 1][1][nb 2][nb 3]}

Life

Arnaud-Michel was born in Dublin on the 24th of July 1815. Whilst his mother was Irish, his father was French and in 1818 the family moved to France. While in France, Arnaud and his brother, Antoine, were educated in the sciences.^[4]

Arnaud journeyed to Algeria, then in 1837, he and his brother left for Ethiopia. In February 1838, they started their scientific expedition from Massawa.^[1] The brothers traveled throughout northern Ethiopia, travelling as far south as Ennarea and the Kingdom of Kaffa, sometimes together and sometimes separately. Although the expedition was scientific, Arnaud delved into the political arena and was responsible for influencing Gregory XVI into sending missionaries to Ethiopia.^[3] He and his brother returned to France in 1848 with their notes on the geography, geology, archaeology and natural history of Ethiopia.^[4]

Arnaud paid another visit to Ethiopia in 1853.^[4]

The general account of the travels of the two brothers was published by Arnaud in 1868 under the title of Douze ans dans la Haute-Ethiopie [Twelve Years in Upper Ethiopia].^[3] Arnaud received the grand medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1850.^[4]

Notes

1. Although referred to as Ethiopia here, the region that they traveled is more accurately defined as Abyssinia or in today's geography northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.
2. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary calls him "Michel Arnaud d'Abbadie".^[2]
3. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the date of death as 8 November 1893.^[3]

Footnotes

1. Hoiberg 2010, p. 8
2. Thorne 1984, p. 1
3. Shahan 1907
4. Keltie 1910, p. 9

References

• Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abbadie, Antoine-Thomson d'; and Abbadie, Arnaud-Michel d'". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
• Keltie, John Scott (1910). "Abbadie, Antoine Thomson D' and Arnaud Michel D'". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Brittanica. I: A - Androphagi (11th ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. LCCN 11027773.
• Shahan, Thomas Joseph (1907). "Antoine d'Abbadie". In Herbermann, Charles George; Pace, Edward A.; Pallen, Condé Bénoist; Shahan, Thomas J.; Wynne, John J. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. I: Aachen–Assize. New York, NY: The Encyclopedia Press, Inc. LCCN 30023167.
• Thorne, John, ed. (1984). "Abbadie, Michel Arnaud d'". Chambers Biographical Dictionary (Revised ed.). Chambers. ISBN 0-550-18022-2.

External links

• Works by Arnauld d'Abbadie at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Arnaud-Michel d’Abbadie at Internet Archive