
Ernest Doudart de Lagrée, from Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine
Ernest Marc Louis de Gonzague Doudart de Lagrée (
March 31,
1823 -
March 12,
1868) was the leader of the
French Mekong Expedition of 1866-1868.
He was born in
Saint-Vincent-de-Mercuze near
Grenoble,
France, and graduated from the
École Polytechnique. He joined the navy and served in the
Crimean War, then took up a post in
Indochina in the hope that the climate would help his chronically
ulcerated throat. It did not, and throughout the
Mekong expedition he was often in severe pain.
The expedition left
Saigon on
June 5,
1866. In addition to his ulcers, Doudart de Lagrée suffered from
fever,
amoebic dysentery and infected wounds caused by
leeches, as the expeditioners had to walk barefoot once they had worn out their supply of shoes. By the time the expedition reached
Dongchuan, in
Yunnan,
China, he was too sick to be moved, and his second-in-command
Francis Garnier took command. Garnier led the expedition to
Dali, leaving Doudart de Lagrée in the care of the doctor. He died from an
abscess on his liver. The doctor removed his heart to return it to France, while Doudart de Lagrée was buried in Dongchuan.
Honours