Антуан Тоmson д’Аббади: Исследователь Эфиопии и ученый-энциклопедист

Irish born French explorer, geographer, ethnologist, linguist and astronomer

Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie d'Arrast (3 January 1810 – 19 March 1897) during the first half of the 19th century. He was the older brother of Arnaud Michel d'Abbadie, with whom he travelled.

D'Abbadie was born a British subject, in Dublin, Ireland, from a partially Basque noble family of the French province of Soule. His mother, Madam Thompson, was Irish and his father, Michel d'Abbadie, was born in Arrast Larrebieu. He descended from an old family of lay abbots from Arrast, a commune in the canton of Mauléon. These lay abbots were instituted beyond the Crusades by Charlemagne to defend the border against the Saracens. The lay abbots resided with their lances in hand in the abbeys of the Basque country. They were granted the right to collect tithes and participated in the appointment of priests by designating them in accordance with the bishop's selection. The name d'Abbadie was initially not a surname but rather designated their function (abbatia, abbadia). The family moved to France in 1818 where the brothers received a careful scientific education. Starting in 1829, he began his education in Paris, where he studied law. and the president of the French Academy of Sciences. He died in 1897, and bequeathed the Abbadia domain and castle in Hendaye, yielding 40,000 francs a year, to the Academy of Sciences, on the condition that they produce a catalogue of half a million stars within fifty years.

In 1835 the French Academy sent Antoine on a scientific mission to Brazil, the results being published at a later date (1873) Sixteen years later, the prince became President of the Republic. When Antoine d'Abbadie reminded him that they had arranged to meet at the Tuileries and not the Élysée, the prince responded: "The Élysée is not far from the Tuileries." After successfully completing the task assigned to him by the French Academy, Antoine d'Abbadie hurried to Cairo in 1837 to meet his younger brother who awaited his arrival. The two youthful travelers, aged 26 and 21 respectively, were to stay in Ethiopia for almost 12 years. The two brothers landing at Massawa in February 1838. They journeyed throughout Ethiopia, travelling as far south as the Kingdom of Kaffa, sometimes together and sometimes separately. In addition to his studies in the sciences, he delved into the political fray exerting influence in favour of France and the Catholic missionaries. Arnaud held several distinguished positions such as general, judge, and diplomat. He participated in battles and earned the title of Ras, a highly esteemed title in this country. Antoine, on the other hand, pursued an academic path and became a scholar. "When residing in a foreign country without any known antecedents,"he tells us"it is advisable to adopt a vocation in line with local customs, as failure to do so may result in being branded as a political spy, a hazardous accusation in any nation. As I was unable to engage in combat, agriculture, or merchandising, I identified as a "mamhir", or teacher and scholar, during my time in Christian Ethiopia and received an education from their public and non compulsory schools." For a considerable length of time, the two brothers had assimilated into the customs of the region; relinquishing European attire for the turban and toga of the Ethiopians. They traversed the terrain barefoot, as during this era, solely lepers and Jews sported sandals. Furthermore, they were welcomed warmly wherever they travelled. The d'Abbadie brothers undertook extensive journeys throughout Ethiopia, documenting their observations on a range of topics, including human geography, physical geography, religion, legislative texts, ethnography, philology, linguistics, numismatics, and history. Moreover, Antoine amassed a collection of 250 antique manuscripts and, with the assistance of the Ethiopian Debtera Tewelde Medhin of Welkait, produced the first ever Amharic French dictionary containing 15,000 words. In late 1848, the two brothers departed Ethiopia after successfully completing their extensive self promised program and more. Antoine became involved in various controversies relating both to his geographical results and his political intrigues. He was especially attacked by Charles Tilstone Beke, who impugned his veracity, especially with reference to the journey to Kana. But time and the investigations of subsequent explorers have shown that Abbadie was quite trustworthy as to his facts, though wrong in his assertion — hotly contested by Beke — that the Blue Nile was the main stream. The topographical results of his explorations were published in Paris between 1860 and 1873 He also compiled various vocabularies, including a Dictionnaire de la langue amariñña (Paris, 1881), and prepared an edition of the Shepherd of Hermas, with the Latin version, in 1860. He published numerous papers dealing with the geography of Ethiopia, Ethiopian coins and ancient inscriptions. Under the title of Reconnaissances magnétiques he published in 1890 an account of the magnetic observations

Abbadie gave his castle home the name Abbadia, which is the name still used in Basque. However, in French it is usually referred to as Chateau d'Abbadie or Domaine d'Abbadia, and locally it is not unusual for it to be called le Chateau d'Antoine d'Abbadie. The château was built between 1864 and 1879 on a cliff by the Atlantic Ocean, and was designed by Eugène Viollet le Duc in the Neo Gothic style. It is considered one of the most important examples of French Gothic Revival Architecture. It is divided in three parts: the observatory and library, the chapel, and the living quarters. Over the front entrance door of the château is engraved "Céd míle fáilte" Irish gaelic for one hundred thousand welcomes in honour of his Irish heritage. The château still belongs to the Academy of Science to which it was bequeathed in 1895 on condition of its producing a catalogue of half a million stars within fifty years' time, with the work to be carried out by members of religious orders. The château was classified as a protected historical monument by France in 1984. Most of the château property now belongs to the Coastal Protection Agency, and is managed by the city of Hendaye.

Year Area of Study Title Translation Notes 1836 Basque Language Études grammaticales sur la langue euskarienne Grammatical Studies of the Euskarian Language On Gallica 1854 Basque Language Le Dictionnaire de Chaho Dictionary of Chaho 1854 Basque Language Lettres sur l'orthographe basque Letters on the Basque Spelling 1859 Basque Language Travaux récents sur la langue basque Recent Studies on the Basque language On Gallica 1859 Ethiopia Catalogue raisonné de manuscrits éthiopiens Catalog of Ethiopian Manuscripts Paris On Gallica 1859 Ethiopia, Geography of Résumé Géodésique des positions déterminées en Éthiopie Summarized Geodetic Positions Determined in Ethiopia Paris 1860–1873 Ethiopia, Geography of Géodésie d'Éthiopie ou triangulation d'une partie de la Haute Éthiopie Surveying of Ethiopia and Triangulation of Parts of Upper Ethiopia 4 Vols. Paris:Gauthier Villars 1862–1869 Ethiopia, Geography of Éthiopie Ethiopia Map in 10 sections 1864 Zuberoatikaco gutun bat On Gallica 1867 Exploration Instructions pour les voyages d'exploration Guidelines for Exploratory Voyages Available on Gallica 1868 Basque Language Sur la carte de la langue basque The Map of the Basque Language 1868 Ethiopia, History of L'Abyssinie et le roi Théodoros Abyssinia and King Theodore On Gallica 1868 Ethiopia Monnaie d'Éthiopie Ethiopian Currency 1872 Language Notice sur les langues de Kamw Brochure of Languages Kamw 1873 Basque, History of Le basque et le berbère Both Basque and the Berber 1873 Geography Observations relatives à la physique du globe, faites au Brésil et en Éthiopie Observations on Earth Physics, Made in Brazil and Ethiopia Paris:Gauthier Villars 1880 Exploration Préparation des voyageurs aux observations astronomiques et géodésiques Preparation of Travelers With Astronomical Observations and Geodetic Surveys 1881 Science Recherches sur la verticale Researching the Vertical 1881 Language Dictionnaire de la langue Amarrinna Dictionary of the Amharic Language 1884 Exploration Credo d'un vieux voyageur The Creed of an Old Traveler 1890 Geography Reconnaissances magnétiques Magnetic Reconnaissance Paris 1890 Ethiopia, Geography of Géographie de l'Éthiopie, ce que j'ai entendu, faisant suite à ce que j'ai vu Geography of Ethiopia, What I Heard, Which Followed What I Saw 1895 Basque Language Lettre sur la préservation de la langue basque Letter on Preserving the Basque Language 1896 Abolition of slavery Sur l'abolition de l'esclavage en Afrique On the abolition of slavery in Africa On Gallica 1898 Ethiopia, History of Des conquêtes faites en Abyssinie au XVIe siècle par l'imam Muhammad Ahmad dit Grâgne; version française de la chronique arabe du Chahâb ad Dîn Ahmad Translation of a chronicle of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi's conquests in 16th century Ethiopia Completed by Philipp Paulitschke and published posthumously. On Gallica

Antoine received the French Legion of Honor on 27 September 1850 with the order of chevalier or knight. He was a member of the Bureau des Longitudes and also the French Academy of Sciences. Both brothers received the grand medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1850.