author
duc de Ferdinand François Philippe Marie d'Orléans Montpensier
1884–1924
A French prince with a restless, adventurous streak, he turned his travels in Asia into books about hunting, exploration, and life in French Indochina. His story blends royal history with the curiosity of an early 20th-century travel writer.
1 Audiobook
La Ville au Bois dormant : De Saïgon à Ang-Kor en automobile
by duc de Ferdinand François Philippe Marie d'Orléans Montpensier
About the author
Born on September 9, 1884, Ferdinand d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, was a member of the House of Orléans and a great-grandson of King Louis-Philippe I of France. Although he came from one of Europe's best-known royal families, he is also remembered for a life shaped by travel and observation.
Montpensier developed a strong interest in Asia, especially French Indochina, and wrote books drawn from his journeys there. Works associated with him include Notre France d'Extrême-Orient and En Indo-Chine: mes chasses, mes voyages, which reflect both the colonial world of his time and his personal enthusiasm for exploration.
He died on January 30, 1924, at the age of 39. Today, he stands out less as a political figure than as an unusual royal author whose writings offer a glimpse into French travel, empire, and aristocratic adventure in the early 1900s.