Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier

Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (14 January 1705 – 1786) was a French explorer and colonial administrator of the Mascarene Islands to the east of Madagascar.

He was orphaned at the age of seven and after being educated in Paris, he was sent to Saint Malo to study navigation.

He succeeded in convincing his employer to provide him with two ships and send him on an exploration mission in the South Atlantic.

Shortly afterwards, he had to abandon the expedition because most of his crew had fallen ill; his ship then called at the Cape of Good Hope and returned to France.

Ten years after his expedition, Lozier was appointed governor of the Mascarene Islands twice, once from 1750 to 1752 and a second time from 1757 to 1763.