François Le Vaillant

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François Levaillant

François Le Vaillant (1753 - November 22, 1824) was a French explorer, collector and ornithologist.

Le Vaillant was born in Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana (Surinam), the son of the French consul. When his father returned to Europe, in 1763, he studied natural history at Metz. He was sent by the Dutch East India Company to the Cape Province of South Africa in 1781, and collected specimens there until 1784. He made two journeys, one eastwards from the Cape and one north of the Orange River and into Great Namaqualand.

On his return he published Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique (1790, 2 vols.), and Second voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique (1796, 3 vols.), both of which were translated into several languages. He also published Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique (1796-1808, 6 vols.) with drawings by Jacques Barraband, Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis (1801-06), Histoire naturelle des cotingas et des todiers (1804) and Histoire naturelle des calaos (1804). Over 2,000 bird skins were sent to Jacob Temminck, who had financed the expedition, and these were later studied by his son Coenraad Jacob Temminck and included in the collection of the museum at Leiden.

Le Vaillant died in poverty in La Noue, near Sézanne.

Le Vaillant was opposed to the systematic nomenclature introduced by Carolus Linnaeus and only gave the new species he discovered French names. Some of these are still in use as common names, such as Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus. Other naturalists were left to assign binomial names to his new discoveries. Some of these honoured Le Vaillant, including Levaillant's Cuckoo. Levaillant's Woodpecker was also named after him.