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Paul Réveillère (Branda)

Portrait of Paul   Réveillère (Branda)

Paul Émile Marie Réveillère or Paul Branda or Paul Brandat [pen name] (27 May 1829, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, Britanny, France — 26 Jan 1908, Brest), was a French Navy officer, and a writer and journalist best known under the pen names of Paul Branda or Brandat.

After studying at École navale in 1845 – 1847, he served on the ship Africaine in the West Indies, on the Pandore and the Sentinelle in the Levant until September 1851, then again in the West Indies seas on Ardent Méléagre (décembre 1854. In 1857, his ship Akba was wrecked in West Africa (off Grand-Bassam), and subsequently was in charge of ships Rafale and Licorne. From November 1859 to April 1864, he served in the China Seas aboard the Japon, and made himself out as captain of Gunboat 31 in the attack on Gò Công [Tien Giang Province, in Khmer កោះគង (ដំបកកោង), Koh Korng (Curved Roof)] in March 1863. 

From 1865 to 1884, Lieutnant and then Captain Réveillère was busy navigating, commanding the Navy units in Rochefort, and reporting under the name Paul Branda or Brandat. In February 1970, he helped in putting in place an improved telegraphic between France and England. During his mission to Oceania in 1878 — and later in the Far East -, he collected numerous specimen of rare fish species and artefacts sent to the Brest and Paris museums.

As commander of the French Navy in Cochinchina, captain of the Tilsitt, he explored Cambodia, Tonkin, Laos, China, and was the first navigator to cross the Khone rapids on torpedo boat 44 in 1885. Leaving Southeast Asia in 1886, he was posted in Brest and Cherbourg, promoted rear-admiral in 1889, and retired in 1891. From 1896, his publications evolved around the theme of ​“autarchie” (from ​“autarcie” fr, ​“autarchies” eng: ​“self-government”), all volumes with the epigraph ​“Honorer Dieu, Aimer l’humanité, Agir en Brave” [Honor God, Love Humanity, Act Bravely].

Author of several travel books, he also published numerous technical papers on coastal defence or earth magnetism.

Publications

  1. [as Paul Brandat] En mer, Souvenirs et fantaisies, Paris, Dupont, Pache et Deffaux eds,1868.
  2. [as Paul Brandat] Récits et nouvelles, Paris, E. Lachaud, 1869.
  3. [as Paul Brandat] Mers de l’Inde, Paris, E. Lachaud, 1870.
  4. [with Frédéric Passy], La Colonne, Brest, 1871.
  5. L’Assemblée perpétuelle, Paris, Pichon et Cie, 1871.
  6. [as Paul Brandat] Mers de Chine, Paris, Pichon et Cie, 1872; reprint Nabu Press, 2012, 230 p, ISBN 978 – 1272495619.
  7. [as Paul Brandat] La République rurale, Paris, Henry Bellaire editeur, 1872.
  8. Un jour a Monaco, Paris, 1873; reprint Paris, 2018. ASIN ‏B0BV381W24
  9. [as Paul Brandat] A Barcelone, Paris, Librairie Henry Bellaire, 1874.
  10. La Représentocratie, Paris, Sandoz et Fischbacher, 1874.
  11. [as Paul Branda] Les Trois Caps: Journal de bord, Paris, Sandoz et Fischbacher,1877.
  12. [as Paul Branda] Contre vent et marée : La dame pâle. Le repentir. Le bois de Kéroman. La glacé. Amours funèbres. Le château de Trémazan. Lettre d’un transporté. Police correctionnelle. Massimo Bracchioti. Le père Bailly, Paris, printed monograph, 1883, 381 p. 
  13. [as Paul Branda] Autour du monde, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1884; Kindle edition 2016.
  14. [as Paul Branda] Réformes navales — la France sur l’Ocean, Paris, E. Dentu, 1888. [part of a compilation of previous publications]
  15. [as Paul Branda] Le Haut-Mékong ou le Laos ouvert, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, new edition, 1889.
  16. Réformes navales, 1888; reprint Forgotten Books, 2018, 98 p., ISBN ‏ :978 – 04283026
  17. [as Paul Branda (Le Contre-amiral Réveillère)] Çà et là: Cochinchine et Cambodge; L’âme khmere; Ang-kor, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1892.
  18. Enigmes de la nature, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1895; repub. Hachette/​BNF, 2016.
  19. Graines au vent (Autarchie), Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1896.
  20. Croix Et Croissant: Autarchie, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1897; repub. Hachette/​BNF, 2015.
  21. Extension, expansion (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1898.
  22. Sur le Pont (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1899.
  23. Méditations d’un autarchiste, Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1900.
  24. Christianisme autarchique, Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1900; repub. Hachette/​BNF, 2013.
  25. Mégalithisme, Paris, 1900; repub. Hachette/​BNF, 2016.
  26. Les trois auto : autarchie (self government), autosynergie (self help), autorestriction (self restraint), Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1902. 
  27. Autarchie religieuse, Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1902.
  28. Libres penséees chrétiennes (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1903.
  29. Pensées d’un libre-croyant, Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1903.
  30. En Quete de Lumiere, Paris, 1904; repub. Hachette/​BNF, 2013.
  31. Hypotheses et croyances (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1904.
  32. Espoirs et Doutes (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1905.
  33. Autarchie: Politique économique, Paris, Librairie Fischbacher, 1906.
  34. Vers l’Inconnu (Autarchie), Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1906.
  35. Réflexions diverses, 11 vols.

photo-portrait source: Wikicommons.