Count Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811) is best known to gardeners for having given his name to the bougainvillea, an exotic plant with delicate mauve flowers. Fewer know that, during the Age of Enlightenment, he was the first Frenchman to officially and scientifically sail around the world. In 1766, commissioned by Louis XV's ministers, the navigator left Brest aboard the frigate "La Boudeuse", joined en route by the flute "L'étoile". His task? Navigate the southern seas to explore new territories and gain a foothold in the southern hemisphere. Accompanied by scientists, including astronomer Pierre-Antoine Véron and botanist Philibert Commerson, Bougainville docked in Tahiti in April 1768, which he christened "New Kythera Island" and took possession of on behalf of France.
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