author

Jean Godin des Odonais

1712–1792

Drawn into one of the 18th century’s great scientific expeditions, he spent decades exploring South America as a cartographer and naturalist. His life is also remembered for the extraordinary Amazon ordeal that separated him from his wife for many years.

1 Audiobook

Perils and Captivity

Perils and Captivity

by Pierre-Raymond de Brisson, Charlotte-Adelaïde Dard, Jean Godin des Odonais

About the author

Born in Saint-Amand-Montrond in 1713, Jean Godin des Odonais was a French cartographer and naturalist. He joined the famous geodesy expedition to the equator led by Charles Marie de La Condamine, and after the main mission he stayed in Quito, where he taught astronomy and natural science while studying local languages and the flora of Ecuador.

Later, he devoted himself fully to exploration and collecting. Accounts of his work credit him with extensive travels in Ecuador, Peru, Cayenne, and the Amazon region, along with large botanical and zoological collections gathered over many years.

He returned to France in the 1770s and was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1784. Much of his lasting fame comes from the dramatic story of his long separation from his wife, Isabel, whose attempt to reunite with him after years apart became one of the best-known survival tales of the Amazon.