Lazare Picault
Encyclopedia
Lazare Picault was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 explorer known for his exploration of islands in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

. Although Arab, Portuguese and British sailors visited the Seychelles prior to Picault, he was the first to do any extensive exploration.

In 1742 on an expedition of exploration of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, Picault discovered the largest island of the Seychelles which he named L’Île d’Abondance (Isle of Abundance). Also a smaller island to the east he called Ste. Anne Island
Ste. Anne Island
Sainte Anne Island is the largest of six islands in Ste Anne Marine National Park of the Seychelles. These six islands are part of the Mont Fleuri District of the Seychelles. It is 4 km off the east coast of Mahé and has abundant tropical vegetation...

, named after Saint Anne
Saint Anne
Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...

's Day (the date of his landing there).

In 1744 he returned to the Seychelles and renamed the largest island Mahé
Mahé, Seychelles
Mahé is the largest island of the Seychelles, lying in the north east of the nation. The population of Mahé is 80,000. It contains the capital city of Victoria and accommodates 90% of the country's total population...

 after Mahé de La Bourdonnais, the governor of Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...

 and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

, who was in charge of the mission. He also named the entire island group, Iles de la Bourdonnais. This was changed to Sechelles in 1756, in honor of French Minister of Finances, Jean Moreau de Séchelles
Jean Moreau de Séchelles
Jean Moreau de Séchelles was a French official and politician.Made a maître des requêtes 13 October 1719, he was the intendant of Hainaut in Valenciennes from 1727 to 1743...

.

In 1744 Picault also explored several other islands in the archipelago, including:
  • La Digue
    La Digue
    La Digue is the fourth largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe and La Réunion. It has an area of 10 km²...

    : Which he calls Ìle Rouge because of its reddish granite boulders. In 1768 it is named La Digue, after the name of a ship in the fleet of explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne
    Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne
    Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne , with the surname sometimes spelt Dufresne, was a French explorer who made important discoveries in the south Indian Ocean, in Tasmania and in New Zealand, where he died...

    .
  • Praslin
    Praslin
    Praslin is the second largest island of the Seychelles, lying 44 km north east of Mahé. Praslin has a population of around 6,500 people and comprises two administrative districts; Baie Sainte Anne and Grand' Anse . The main settlements are the Baie Ste Anne, Anse Volbert and Grand' Anse.It was...

    : Which Picault calls Isle de Palmes because of the large tracts of palm forests on the island. In 1768 it is changed in honor of diplomat César Gabriel de Choiseul
    César Gabriel de Choiseul
    César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin was a French officer, diplomat and statesman.On 30 April 1732, he was married with Anne Marie de Champagne de Villaines de la Suze....

    , duc de Praslin.
  • Fregate Island
    Fregate Island
    Frégate Island or sometimes Frigate Island is a private island and is the easternmost of the granitic Inner Islands of the Seychelles. It is only and is primarily known as a secluded, private luxury resort and its Anse Victorin beach was voted "The World's Best Beach" by The Times. It was named...

    : Named Fregate due to the large number of frigatebirds he finds on the island.


Today on the island of Mahé there are several locales named after him. A bay, beach, village, administrative district and tourist hotel are all called Baie Lazare
Baie Lazare
Baie Lazare is an administrative district of Seychelles located on the island of Mahé. It is named after the explorer Lazare Picault....

.
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