Nationality Breton | Name Jean-Michel de | |
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Died July 20, 1793, New Caledonia | ||
Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec (Bohars, Finistère, France, 12 September 1748–Balade, New Caledonia, 6 May 1793) was an 18th-century French navigator. In September 1791 he was chosen to command the Espérance on the Bruni d'Entrecasteaux expedition to find the lost expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse. The expedition explored Tasmania, New Caledonia, New Guinea and the Santa Cruz Islands; however, Kermadec died of tuberculosis on 6 May 1793 at Balade in New Caledonia.
The Kermadec Islands northeast of New Zealand are named for Huon de Kermadec, as are Kermadec Trench, Kermandie, and the Kermandie River, Huonville, the Huon Valley, and Huon River of Tasmania, and the Huon Peninsula and Huon Gulf of Papua New Guinea.
Several plants bear his name, including the Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) of Tasmania, the Proteaceae genus Kermadecia of New Caledonia, and the tree Metrosideros kermadecensis of the Kermadec Islands.