Auguste Febvrier Despointes
{{Short description|19th-century French naval officer and colonial administrator}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Auguste Febvrier-Despointes
| image = Admiral Febvrier des Pointes 1796 1855.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| nickname =
| birth_date = 1796
| birth_place = Le Vauclin, Martinique, France
| death_date = 5 {{Death year and age|1855|1796|3}}
| death_place = Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Peru
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = {{flag|First French Empire}}
{{flag|Bourbon Restoration}}
{{flagicon|France}} July Monarchy
{{flag|French Second Republic}}
{{flag|Second French Empire}}
| branch = French Navy
| serviceyears = 1811–1855
| rank = Counter admiral (contre-amiral)
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = Crimean War
| awards =
| relations = Anne Élisabeth Papin-Thévigné (wife)
| laterwork =
}}
Auguste Febvrier-Despointes ({{IPA|fr|oɡyst fɛvʁije depwɛ̃t}}; 1796 – 5 March 1855) was a French counter admiral. He served as the first commandant of New Caledonia from 24 September 1853 to 1 January 1854.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/New_Caledonia.htm|title=New Caledonia |publisher= Ben Cahoon |website= worldstatesmen.org |accessdate=14 June 2011| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110622055235/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/New_Caledonia.htm| archivedate= 22 June 2011 | url-status= live}}
Life
Despointes entered the French Navy school at Brest in September 1811 and in 1844 married Anne Élisabeth Papin-Thévigné. He was promoted to commander on 10 December 1850 and contre-amiral on 2 April 1851, he became major general of the fleet at Brest and then, in 1852, rose to commander of France's naval division in Oceania and the west American coast. He officially took possession of New Caledonia in the name of France on 24 September 1853 before taking part in the far eastern theatre of the Crimean War in 1854, including the siege of Petropavlovsk. He then fell ill, dying on board his ship in 1855; his body was returned to France in 1856.
References
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Category:French military personnel of the Crimean War