Etienne Regnault was the first 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...

. He arrived on the island in 1665 with a group of 20 settlers sent by the French East India Company

French East India Company

The French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....

. He founded the towns of Sainte-Suzanne

Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion

Sainte-Suzanne is a commune on the north coast of the French island and department of Réunion. It is bordered by the communes of Saint-André, Sainte-Marie and Salazie. The course of the Saint-Jean River denoted the border between Saint-André and Saint-Suzanne...

 and Saint-Denis

Saint-Denis, Réunion

Saint-Denis is the préfecture of the French overseas region and department of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis....

 and served as governor of the colony until 1671, after which he was succeeded by Jacques de la Heure. Regnault continued his service to the East India Company in Surat

Surat

Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...

 and Pondicherry, until his death in 1688 in Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

.