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Pierre-François Bernier
(1779–1803)

Biographical

At the age of sixteen, Bernier abandoned his job as a clerk, and became the friend and pupil of the French astronomer, Anne Jean Pascal Chrysostome Duc-Lachapelle, who fostered his interest in astronomy and introduced him to its basic concepts. A brilliant student, he was barely seventeen when he made his first important observations which were well-received, and published in the Connoissance des temps periodical. After moving to Toulouse and Montauban, the astronomer Jerôme Lalande encouraged him to move to Paris. Knowing that Bernier had little fortune, he lodged him at his home in January 1800, and provided him generously with all the means necessary to improve his education, which speaks volumes of both the master and the disciple. Lalande allowed Bernier to work with him at the Collège de France, and was involved in particular in the field of star observation. After mastering celestial navigation, the Bureau des Longitudes designated him as one of the two astronomers destined for the expedition to the Southern Lands on the ship Le Géographe, to be commanded by Captain Nicolas Baudin. Bernier was not of very robust health, but he had he eagerly accepted the position that required much zeal and diligence, but promised an abundance of work and renowned achievement. On the 18th of October 1800, the ship set sail from Le Havre. Bernier was active in the southern seas, and, among other tasks, calculated longitudes, studied atmospheric magnetism, tides, and observed solar and lunar eclipses. In 1803, suffering weakness and malnutrition, he died from dysentery on Le Géographe, and was buried at sea near Timor. Bernier Island in Western Australia was named after him.

Place of birth: La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime
Place of death: near Timor
Place of burial: at sea, near Timor

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