Jules Brossard de Corbigny

Jules Marcel Brossard de Corbigny (14 Apr. 1841, Orléans — 14 Dec. 1934, Meung-sur-Loire, France) was a French Navy officer (lieutenant-de-vaisseau capitaine and contre-amiral) and cartographer, famous for his journey on elephant back from Saigon to Bangkok in Jan-Feb 1871, when King Norodom asked him to escort back to Cambodia the Cambodian royal princesses left at the Court of Siam.

He related his journey across Annam, Cochinchina and Siam in ​“De Saigon à Bangkok par l’intérieur de l’Indochine, notes de voyage, janvier-février 1871” (Revue maritime et coloniale, 1872, V. 2, p.440 – 463, p.787 – 806; V. III, 1872, p.45 – 74). Jim Mizerski authored an English translation in 2017.

After serving in the Mediterranean Sea and in Africa, de Corbigny volunteered to be transferred to Cochinchina in 1866, where his brother Baron Charles-Paul Brossard de Corbigny (1822−1900) was serving. He acted as Représentant du Protectorat (French Protectorate Representative) in Phnom Penh from March 10 to Nov. 11, 1870, substituting Jean Moura, who had succeeded to Edouard Pottier in this function since 1868.

In 1872, he was named French Consul in Bangkok. In 1874, he took part to the Mission Hué, aiming at establishing a trade treaty with the Kingdom of Annam. He retired from military duties in 1894.