Challes, Robert, 1659-approximately 1720

Robert Challe (alternately spelled Challes) was born in Paris, France, on August 17, 1659. He received a formal education from the Collège de la Marche and in 1677 began a military career; during the late 1670s, he participated in several battles in the Franco-Dutch War. Challe later earned a law degree and worked as a legal clerk until his father's death in 1681. He then left France for Acadia, where he worked for the newly established Compagnie des Pêches Sédentaires d'Acadie until the mid-1680s. In 1690, he became purser on the French East India Company's Ecueil, bound for India via the Cape of Good Hope; Challe remained with the ship until its return to France in August 1691. Upon his return, he served in several naval administrative positions; in 1713 he published a novel, Les Illustres Françoises . Robert Challe died on January 25, 1721. Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales was published shortly after Challe's death.

From the guide to the Robert Challe, Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales English translation, Challe, Robert, Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales English translation, [1720s-1730s?], (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)