Pierre Esprit Radisson

Born in France around 1636, Pierre-Esprit Radisson became one of the best-known explorers of New France. As a young man he traveled deep into the interior of North America, was captured for a time by Mohawk people, and later returned to French colonial society with firsthand knowledge of Indigenous trade routes and geography.

With his brother-in-law Médard Chouart des Groseilliers, he pushed for northern trading expeditions and eventually backed the idea of reaching the fur country by way of Hudson Bay. Their efforts helped lead to the founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670, though Radisson’s career remained unsettled and he moved back and forth between French and English service.

Radisson is remembered both for his role in the early fur trade and for the travel accounts linked to his name, which helped shape later views of exploration in northern North America. Some details of his life remain debated, but sources agree that he died in 1710.