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naval draughtsman and natural scientist, was born on 22 August 1775 in the French town of Cerilly. His family was of modest background, his father a saddler. He studied theology in 1791-92 before travelling to Moulins in August 1792 where he enlisted in the 2nd Company of Volunteers formed in September to fight in the revolutionary wars. Made a corporal in the 7th Company, he was promoted sergeant shortly afterwards. He was a Prussian prisoner of war at Kaiserslautern from 26 December 1793 until released on 30 August 1795 and during this period became blind in the right eye. On his return to Cerilly a local notary sponsored a three-year period of study at the School of Medicine in Paris where he studied anatomy with Georges Cuvier at the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle. When a vacancy occurred on the expedition to the South Pacific under the command of Nicolas Baudin, it was largely through Cuvier’s influence – and a clever self-promoting memorandum Péron himself submitted titled 'Observations on Anthropology’ – that he was appointed student zoologist to the voyage. After the expedition returned to France on 25 March 1804 Péron delivered some plants and live animals to the Château of Malmaison and remained there as a tutor to the Empress Josephine.

The achievements of the voyage were assessed by the Institut National and its report, delivered in 1806, made fulsome reference to Péron: 'supported by his unflagging energy, and the efforts of his co-worker Lesueur [q.v.], a zoological collection was made, the extent and importance of which becomes increasingly obvious. There are more than 100,000 specimens of animals, several of which will constitute new genera; and the new species, according to the report of the professors at the Museum, number upwards of 2,500. If we remember that Cook’s second voyage, fruitful as were its discoveries, made known not more than 250 new species, and that the united voyages of Carteret, Wallis, Furneaux, Mears, and even Vancouver, did not produce so great a number – it follows that Péron and Lesueur alone have discovered more new animals than all the travelling naturalists of modern days.’

In June 1804 the members of the museum asked Napoleon to confer 'la bienveillance du Gouvernement en faveur de Péron et Lesueur’ and on 21 August Napoleon awarded them annual pensions of 2000 francs and 1500 francs respectively 'in consideration of their zeal shown during the voyage of discovery to the Southern Hemisphere from 1800 to 1804’. Reappraised of the benefits of the voyage, in August 1806 Napoleon decreed that an account of it be published. Written by Péron and Louis de Freycinet, with illustrations after Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit , Voyage des D é couvertes aux Terres Australes was published in six volumes between 1807 and 1816 (2nd edn, 1824). This is one of the most impressive travel accounts of the century. Marie-Louise, Empress of France, and Joseph Banks owned copies. Combining scientific precision and a lively narrative (coloured somewhat by an obvious dislike of Baudin), the text reveals a romantic love of landscape and a fascination with the Aborigines. Writing in generous terms of the English settlers, Péron was fascinated by colonial Sydney where 'we found united, like one family, those banditti who had so long been the terror of the mother country’.

A frontispiece after Lesueur’s drawing made fifteen days before Péron’s death shows him rugged up against a chill, proofreading his memoirs with a map of Australia lying on the table, while on the mantelpiece are displayed some molluscs, scientific instruments and books. Péron and Lesueur had been living near the museum in the Rue Copeau (now Lacepede), but Péron had long been ill. In the hope that his health would improve with a warmer climate, they left Paris in January 1809 for Lyon. They reached Péron’s family town of Cérilly in August; Péron died of tuberculosis on 10 December 1810. He bequeathed his papers to Lesueur.

Péron was a product of the Revolution, a man of little social position who could rise through the ranks because of science. Able but not very likeable, his only real friend was Lesueur. He intrigued against his commander, and self-serving remarks made later in Mauritius contributed to the imprisonment of Matthew Flinders. Despite what Cuvier called 'an infinity of searching observations’, his refusal to deposit his records with the museum led to many discoveries going unreported. Nevertheless, he published at least seven scientific papers (three jointly with Lesueur), was a correspondent of the Institut de France and a member of several scientific societies. A monument to him was unveiled at Cerilly in June 1842. In Australia he has been geographically commemorated in Peron Island (NT) and Peron Peninsula (WA). Péron’s notebooks and papers are held at the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre.

Writers:

Terry, Martin

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011