author

Jean Baptiste Henri Savigny

1793–1843

Best known as a survivor of the wreck of the French frigate Méduse, this naval surgeon helped turn a real-life disaster into one of the most haunting survival narratives of the 19th century. His firsthand account remains closely tied to the story that also inspired Géricault’s famous painting The Raft of the Medusa.

1 Audiobook

Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Undertaken by Order of the French Government, Comprising an Account of the Shipwreck of the Medusa, the Sufferings of the Crew, and the Various Occurrences on Board the Raft, in the Desert of Zaara, at St. Louis, and at the Camp of Daccard. to Which Are Subjoined Observations Respecting the Agriculture of the Western Coast of Africa, from Cape Blanco to the Mouth of the Gambia.

Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Undertaken by Order of the French Government, Comprising an Account of the Shipwreck of the Medusa, the Sufferings of the Crew, and the Various Occurrences on Board the Raft, in the Desert of Zaara, at St. Louis, and at the Camp of Daccard. to Which Are Subjoined Observations Respecting the Agriculture of the Western Coast of Africa, from Cape Blanco to the Mouth of the Gambia.

by Jean Baptiste Henri Savigny, Alexandre Corréard

About the author

Born in Rochefort, France, on April 10, 1793, Jean-Baptiste-Henri Savigny trained in medicine and served as a surgeon in the French Navy. He was second surgeon aboard the frigate Méduse when it ran aground off the coast of West Africa in 1816.

Savigny was among the survivors who endured the ordeal on the makeshift raft after the shipwreck. He later became known for co-authoring a narrative of the disaster with Alexandre Corréard, a work that described the wreck, the suffering of the crew, and the struggle to survive. That account helped make the tragedy widely known far beyond France.

He died on January 27, 1843, in Soubise, in Charente-Maritime. Although not remembered mainly as a literary figure, his writing endures because it preserves an eyewitness record of one of the most infamous shipwrecks in French history.