Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars (1793-1864).
(3 August 1793 – 16 March 1864) was a
French naval officer important in France's anexation of
French Polynesia.
He was born at the castle of La Fessardière, near
Saumur. His uncle
Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thouars was of the hero of the
Battle of the Nile. He joined the
French Navy in 1804, where he was a young hand in the Boulogne fleet.
He was promoted to Captain (
Capitaine de frégate) in 1824. He frequently travelled to
Algeria, and had a decisive role in the conquest of
Alger, when he established the attack plans. During the battle, he commanded the 20-gun
Le Griffon.
He was later put in charge of the Southern Seas command, in the
Pacific Ocean. In 1834 he played a key role in protecting French shipping interests against the Peruvians.
He became "Capitaine de vaisseau" on 6 January 1834, and accomplished a circumnavigation between 1836 and 1839 on
La Venus.
Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars taking over Tahiti on September 9, 1842.
He was made
admiral () on 12 July 1841, in charge of the Pacific Naval Division. His mission was to take possession of the
Marquesas Islands. In
Tahiti, he entered in a confrontation with the English missionary and Consul
George Pritchard (1796-1883), and finally expelled him and established a French protectorate over the territory. He was initially denounced for his actions by the French government, which was fearing a conflict with
Great Britain. Relations between France and Great Britain soured considerably during the reign of
Louis-Philippe, due to this "Pritchard Affair".
Dupetit Thouars became a Vice-Admiral () in 1846, and retired in 1858. He died in Paris in 1864.
He had no children, but adopted the son of his sister, known as
Abel Nicolas Bergasse Dupetit Thouars, who also became an Admiral, and played an important role during the
Boshin War in
Japan. This botanist is denoted by the
author abbreviation A.Thouars when
citing a
botanical name.
Family
