Friar Père Laurent Receveur, 1757 – 1788
Biologist
Friar Claude François Joseph Louis “Laurent” Receveur (1757-1788) was born in the village of Noël-Cerneux. After spending several years in the French Navy he finally settled on a priestly vocation, joining the Franciscans near his hometown in Besançon and then studying at the University of Paris. Shortly after ordination, King Louis XVI recognized Receveur’s many talents as a naturalist (et al astronomy, botany, geology, chemistry, meteorology, entomology, and philology) and welcomed him to accompany Admiral Jean François de Galaup, Count of Lapérouse, on an expedition to circumnavigate the globe. The Academy of Science and Medicine was specifically determined to explore the Southern Pacific, its natives, its flora and fauna. Admiral Lapérouse especially considered Père Laurent an indefatigable naturalist, a man of amicable manner and good sense, who was both respected and loved by the crew and officers alike.
The two French ships, La Boussole & L’Astrolabe, set sail on August 1st 1785. After many journeys, they arrived at Monterey Bay on September 14th 1786 (the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross). Receiving guests was always a time of rejoicing, but especially in this mission-frontier from such an extraordinary retinue of scientists. The presidio offered its French allies a seven-gun salute and for ten days the Spanish and French tried to outdo each other in hospitality. Count Lapérouse and his chaplains visited with both Governor Pedro Fages in Monterey and with Padre Fermín Lasuén at Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel (Fr. Juniper Serra had died two years earlier). The French scientists and illustrators surveyed the area, recording in words and pictures everything they saw. The ships’ physicians gave special attention to the natives, measuring their bodies and describing their gestures. A linguist recorded their words and the structure of their languages.
Reaching Botany Bay, Australia, a year-and-a-half later, Friar Laurent died on February 17th 1788, from wounds he received on Samoa after he and others had been attacked by natives. He was only 30 years old.
Buried on Sydney’s southern shore, Friar Laurent’s death anniversary is commemorated every year by the French Consulate, civil officials, and Franciscans of every sort who gather to commemorate the first Mass celebrated in Australia.
The inscription reads:
HIC JACET
L. RECEVEUR
EX F. F. MINORIBUS GALLIA SACERDOS
PHYSICUS IN CIRCUMNAVIGATIONE MUNDI
DUCE D. DE LA PEYROUSE.
OBIIT DIE 17th FEBR. ANNO 1788.
