author
Jean Godin des Odonais
1712–1792
A French cartographer and naturalist, he joined the pioneering 18th-century expedition that measured the Earth at the equator and then built an extraordinary life in South America. He is also remembered for the dramatic story of separation and reunion with his wife, Isabel Gramesón.
1 Audiobook
Perils and Captivity Comprising The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816; Narrative of the captivity of M. de Brisson, in the year 1785; Voyage of Madame Godin along the river of the Amazons, in the year 1770.
by Charlotte-Adelaïde Dard, Pierre-Raymond de Brisson, Jean Godin des Odonais
About the author
Born in Saint-Amand-Montrond in 1713, Jean Godin des Odonais became part of the French Geodesic Mission to what is now Ecuador, a landmark scientific expedition led by Charles Marie de La Condamine. Trained in astronomy and mapping, he worked as a cartographer and naturalist and helped document the region during a period when European science was trying to understand the shape of the Earth.
Rather than simply returning to France with the expedition, he stayed in Quito, where he taught astronomy and natural science and studied local languages and plants. His life became especially famous through his marriage to Isabel Gramesón and the long, difficult separation that followed, a story tied to travel across the Andes and the Amazon and often retold as one of the era's great real-life adventures.
He later returned to France, where he died in Paris in 1792. Although he is not as widely known as some of his contemporaries, his career connects exploration, science, and one of the most unforgettable survival stories associated with Enlightenment-era South America.