Louis Auguste de Sainson
Louis Auguste de Sainson was born on 26 April 1800 (although some say it was 1801) and began his French naval career in a secretarial position in the port of Rochefort in the years 1825-26. Recommended for Dumont d'Urville's scientific expedition to the Pacific by the naturalist Quoy he became the official watercolourist and draughtsman aboard the ASTROLABE. He joined the ship at Toulon in February 1826 with a monthly salary of 100 francs. De Sainson produced close to 500 sketches of the places they visited, the people they saw and the way they lived between 7 February 1826 and 1 April 1829. Most of his works are held by the French National Archives. De Sainson was part of the editorial team which published the results of the expedition.
In 1837 he is recorded as being secretary to a French scientific mission travelling in southern Russia. His further career and life is not well documented.
