Philippe Avril

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Philippe Avril was a Jesuit explorer of the Far East.

He was born at Angoulême, France on 16 September 1654.

He was professor of philosophy and mathematics at Paris when he was summoned to the missions of China. Following the instructions of Ferdinand Verbiest, another Jesuit, then at Peking, he attempted an overland journey, and travelled for six years through Kurdistan, Armenia, Astrakhan, Persia and other countries of the East.

Arriving at Moscow, he was refused permission to pass through Tatary, and was sent by the Government to Poland, from whence he made his way to Istanbul and from there went back to France.

Though exhausted by hemorrhages, he set out again on a vessel, which was lost at sea. He presumably died in the shipwreck in 1698.

He has left interesting and valuable accounts of his long wanderings.