Jean-François-Marie de Surville, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJean-François-Marie de Surville
French explorer
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Port-Louis, Brittany, France
About Jean-François-Marie de Surville
- Jean-François-Marie de Surville (18 January 1717 – 8 April 1770) was a merchant captain with the French East India Company.
- He commanded a voyage of exploration to the Pacific in 1769–70. Born in Brittany, France, Surville joined the French East India Company in 1727 at the age of 10.
- For the next several years he sailed on voyages in Indian and Chinese waters.
- In 1740 he joined the French Navy; he fought in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, twice becoming a prisoner of war.
- After his military career he rejoined the French East India Company.
- In 1769, in command of Saint Jean-Baptiste, he sailed from India on an expedition to the Pacific looking for trading opportunities.
- He explored the seas around the Solomon Islands and New Zealand before proceeding eastward across the South Pacific towards South America.
- Part of his route around New Zealand overlapped that of James Cook in Endeavour, which had preceded him by only a few days.
- De Surville drowned off the coast of Peru on 8 April 1770 while seeking help for his scurvy-afflicted crew.
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