Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny

Who was Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny?

Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny, also known as Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny de Palma was born in Port Louis, the son of Jean-François Charpentier de Cossigny, an engineer of the French East India Company. He was also the cousin of David Charpentier de Cossigny. In 1773, while on a visit to Paris as a scholar and politician, he had asked the colonial secretary for the right to establish a Chamber of Agriculture on the Isle de France. Being considered a Cossigny "agitator" by the authorities coupled with the establishment of a representative body seen as an interference with the direct authority of the ministry

Cossigny de Palma moved to Mauritius where he founded a colony called Palma, and created several acclimatisation gardens for imported fruit species. He is known for introducing the lychee to the islands of Bourbon and Isle de France in 1764 after several trips to China and the East. He was an early member of the Institut de France in 1795.