Paul Soleillet—from Nîmes to Africa

On the Esplanade in Nîmes, there was once a monument commemorating the explorer Paul Soleillet.

All that remains of the bust, which was dismantled in 1942 to supply metal to the German army, is the preparatory plaster. This is kept in the storerooms of the Museum of Fine Arts (musée des Beaux-arts) of Nîmes.

But who was Soleillet—a person now forgotten, but so famous at the time that his face was printed on collectible chocolate boxes?

Soleillet was born in Nîmes on April 29, 1842. As a child, his imagination was fueled by reading about René Caillié, discoverer of the mysterious holy city of Timbuktu in Mali.

Between 1863 and 1872, Soleillet was struck by a series of tragedies: he lost his wife and later his father, and then the fabric export business he had established with a partner went bankrupt.

With no prospects in France, Soleillet boarded a ship on September 6, 1872 in Marseille to try his luck in Africa.

With this in mind, he traveled to the oasis of Laghouat to establish warehouses there.

Soleillet then undertook, with the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Algiers, a more ambitious exploration of the Sahara—all the way to the oasis of In-Salah, a caravan trail hub well on the way to Timbuktu.

During his early journeys, the explorer quickly honed his method: traveling alone as a European, he embraced the customs and habits of the country and sought to befriend the native populations.

On March 6, 1874, Soleillet's caravan reached the outskirts of In-Salah, but the suspicious local sheikh refused to grant him access to the oasis. In terms of business plan success, the outcome of the project was close to zero.

The progress in trade required modern means of transportation. Encouraged by the example of the American transcontinental railroad, Soleillet became a tireless promoter of a trans-Saharan railroad that would link Algiers to Saint-Louis in S

During this journey, Soleillet encountered convoys of slaves bound to supply the markets of the Sahara. He was deeply shocked by the conditions of the prisoners, mainly women and children.

Soleillet boarded a dugout canoe on the Niger River and arrived in Segou on October 1, 1878. The troops of Ahmadou, Sultan of the Tukulor Empire, greeted the French flag. This event was covered by the popular press.

More or less consigned to stay, but on good terms with the local authorities, Soleillet remained in Segou for 112 days, mingling with the local population.

Officially appointed a member of the commission entrusted with studying the Trans-Saharan route, Soleillet undertook a second expedition from Saint-Louis, but this time to the north. However, on March 20, 1880, he was attacked by looters who stole his luggage, which forced him to abandon the journey.

Soleillet then began a third journey, setting off from Senegal. However, on December 13, 1880, he was arrested in Médine by the French army: annoyed by Soleillet's hostility toward the army, the governor of Senegal had

Unwelcome in Senegal, what would Soleillet do next? Would he quietly reunite with his wife—he had remarried in 1875—and their two children in their Nîmes apartment? If you thought this would be his next step, you clearly don't know him very well!

He arrived in Obock on January 12, 1882 with the first batch of cargo to sell.

In Obock, Soleillet built a commercial building composed of an enclosure and a tower, which was known as Tour Soleillet (Soleillet Tower). After falling into disrepair, it was rebuilt and now serves as a seamark.

Soleillet surrounded himself with Abyssinian employees, one of whom was Aiellé, his assistant. The interior of the tower is packed with objects he collected. A precursor to the ethnographic approach, he eventually donate

On August 22, 1882, Soleillet departed at the head of a caravan for Ankober, the capital of the Shewa kingdom led by the powerful Menelik, the future Negusa Nagast (King of Kings) of Ethiopia.  He next visited Kaffa, the region that gave its name to coffee.

Back in Ankober in January 1883, he learned that his company had been liquidated. However, he remained in Ethiopia, traveling to the Blue Nile, staying in his house at Ankober, and living, as a feudal lord,  in a fief granted to him by Menelik.

After a short stay in France, he left Marseille on January 31, 1886 to supply rifles to Menelik. The weapons were unloaded in the palm grove of Tadjoura, Djibouti, where another Frenchman, a certain Arthur Rimbaud, was also preparing a convoy …

The planned collaboration between Soleillet and Rimbaud never took place, however. After getting sunstroke, Soleillet suffered a heart attack. He died on September 10, 1886 in Aden, in a bedroom of the Grand Hôtel de l'Univers.

Soleillet's death made the headlines in well-known newspapers. He was praised as a "worthy disciple of Stanley and Brazza," the great explorers of Africa.