Simon de la Loubère
Encyclopedia
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...
diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, writer, mathematician and poet.
Mission to Siam
Simon de la Loubère led an embassy to Siam (modern ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
) in 1687 (the "La Loubère-Céberet
Claude Céberet du Boullay
Claude Céberet du Boullay was a 17th century French diplomat who participated in the La Loubère-Céberet embassy as "envoy extraordinary" to the kingdom of Siam in 1687. He was co-representative of the mission with the diplomat Simon de la Loubère.-Mission to Siam:In 1685, Céberet became one of...
mission"). The embassy, composed of five warships, arrived in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
in October 1687 and was received by Ok-khun Chamnan
Ok-khun Chamnan
Ok-khun Chamnan Chaichong was a Siamese diplomat who visited France and Rome on an embassy in 1688. He was preceded by the embassay of Kosa Pan in 1686.-Failed embassy to Portugal :...
. de la Loubère returned to France onboard the Gaillard on 3 January 1688, accompanied by the Jesuit Guy Tachard
Guy Tachard
Guy Tachard , also known as Père Tachard, was a French Jesuit missionary and mathematician of the 17th century, who was sent on two occasions to the Kingdom of Siam by Louis XIV...
, and a Siamese embassy led by Ok-khun Chamnan.
Upon his return, de la Loubère made a precise description of his travels, as he had been requested by Louis XIV, published under the title Du Royaume de Siam:
French career
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
(1693–1729), where he received Seat 16, following the 1691 publication of his book Du Royaume de Siam.
De la Loubère was a friend of the German scientist Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
, and once wrote that he had "no greater joy than (to discuss) philosophy and mathematics" with him (22 January 1681 correspondence).
Magic square
De la Loubère also brought to France from his Siamese travels a very simple method for creating n-odd magic squares, known as the "Siamese methodSiamese method
The Siamese method, or De la Loubère method, is a simple method to construct any size of n-odd magic squares . The method was brought to France in 1688 by the French mathematician and diplomat Simon de la Loubère, as he was returning from his 1687 embassy to the kingdom of Siam...
" or the "de la Loubère method", which apparently was initially brought from 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...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by another Frenchman by the name of M. Vincent, who was sailing on the return ship with de la Loubère.
Siamese parachute
Simon de la Loubère is also famous for making one of the earliest account of a parachuteParachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
following his embassy to Siam. He reported in his 1691 book that a man would jump from a high place with two large umbrellas to entertain the king of Siam, landing into trees, rooftops, and sometimes rivers.
Works
- Du Royaume de Siam, 1691 Full text
- Traité de l'origine des jeux floraux de Toulouse (1715)
- De la Résolution des équations, ou de l'Extraction de leurs racines, 1732 Full text
Further reading
- Smithies, Michael (1999), A Siamese embassy lost in Africa 1686, Silkworm Books, Bangkok, ISBN 9747100959