Café des Idées – Wellington hub
Scientific ventures in the Pacific – 200 years since La Coquille explored Aotearoa
📅 19 April 2024 – 5.30pm to 7pm
📍 Alliance Française Wellington
💬 In English
🎟️ FREE EVENT (koha donation) – RSVP essential here
Join the conversation with this new edition of the Café des Idées, as we receive Michael Lee. He will present his research on Dumont d’Urville’s first visit to New Zealand in April 1824.
Conservation biologist, historian, regional politician, living on Waiheke Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The former marine radio officer first encountered the journals of Dumont d’Urville’s 1827 Astrolabe visit to New Zealand in 1996, when writing a thesis for a MSc in Biological sciences from the University of Auckland.
This sparked his interest in the largely unappreciated role of French navigators and naturalists in the scientific discovery of New Zealand and Oceania. He has been researching and writing about New Zealand natural history, especially the French role in it, ever since. This research culminated in publication of his first book ‘Navigators & Naturalists – French Exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769-1824)’ which was re-edited and reprinted in 2020.
The book concludes with the highly successful world voyage of La Coquille (1822-1825), the 200thanniversary of its visit to New Zealand we are now celebrating. A sequel, provisionally entitled: ‘Te Atoramo – D’Urville returns: Voyage of the Astrolabe – Nouvelle Zélande 1827’, is approaching completion.
Join us to learn more about this fascinating journey!
This event will include the possibility to connect online or to come at the premices of Alliance Française in Wellington. A link will be send a few days before the event on the email you filled on the registration form.