Gaspard-Théodore Mollien

French explorer
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Quick Facts
Born:
Aug. 29, 1796, Paris, France
Died:
June 28, 1872, Nice (aged 75)

Gaspard-Théodore Mollien (born Aug. 29, 1796, Paris, France—died June 28, 1872, Nice) was a French explorer and diplomat who was one of the earliest European explorers of the West African interior; his reports revealed an unimagined variety of geography and cultures to Europe.

Mollien reached the French colonial station of Saint-Louis, Senegal, in 1817 and in January 1818 began his expedition to discover the sources of the Sénégal, Gambia, and Niger rivers. His travels, which lasted until January 1819, took him across Senegal, Guinea, and Portuguese Guinea. Though he failed to locate the source of the Niger River, his were the first European contacts with the complex and numerous peoples of that part of the interior of West Africa. Mollien got on well with the inhabitants, and his book Voyage dans l’interieure de l’Afrique (1820; “Journey in the African Interior”) testifies to the hospitality and civility of the Africans he met.

Buzz Aldrin. Apollo 11. Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin, photographed July 20, 1969, during the first manned mission to the Moon's surface. Reflected in Aldrin's faceplate is the Lunar Module and astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took the picture.
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Exploration and Discovery

After his return to Europe, where he was lionized, Mollien explored in the new republic of Colombia (1823), was appointed French consul to Haiti (1828), and later became consul general to Cuba (1831).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.