Léonce Lagarde

One year later, he was designated Commandant de Cercle of French Senegal.

However, it was a post that time did not allow him to serve because he was soon appointed French colonial governor of Obock Territory in Africa, a position he held for fifteen years, from 1884 to 1899.

(It was later named the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, and in 1977, gained its independence as the Republic of Djibouti.)

As ambassador to Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, Lagarde built-up French presence in the Horn of Africa to protect the colony from British domination, which was slowly expanding from Egypt.

[1] In 1896, he gained approval to build a railway line directly from Djibouti to Addis Ababa.