Jules Dumont d’Urville (May 23, 1790 – May 8, 1842) was a French explorer.
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville was born in Condé-sur-Noireau, Basse-Normandie, France, was a French Rear Admiral and explorer of the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica.
His first feat that brought him much acclaim and proved to be his most significant, happened in 1820 while on an expedition to the Greek islands he recognized the true value of a recently unearthed statue as an ancient masterpiece carved sometime between 150 and 100 BC. He immediately arranged for the government of France to acquire one of the most valuable and famous statues in the world. The Venus de Milo now stands in the Louvre in Paris.
In 1822 he sailed on a voyage around the world under Captain Duperray, and brought home a very fine collection of animals and plants.
In 1826 he was sent to the Pacific, surveyed the coasts of New Guinea, New Zealand, and other islands, and found out the probable place of the death of La Perouse.
In 1837, on an expedition to the South Polar regions, he sailed along a coastal area of Antarctica that he named the Adélie Coast for his wife.
On his return in 1840, he was made rear admiral.
Later, in honor of his many valuable chartings, the D’Urville Sea, off Antarctica, Cape d’Urville, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, and D’Urville Island (New Zealand) were named after him.
Jules d’Urville was killed with his wife and son in a railroad accident near Meudon, France. He is buried in the Cimetiere de Montparnasse, Paris, France.
His name belongs to a street in Paris, Rue Dumont d’Urville, located in the 8th district, near the Avenue des Champs Élysées.
The account of his voyages was published in twenty-four volumes, with six large volumes of illustrations.
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