Victor Adolphe Malta-Brown , born the November 25th 1816 with Paris, dead the July 13rd 1889 with Marcoussis (the Essonne) was a geographer and cartographer French.

Its life

He is wire of Malta-Brown Conrad, another geographer, of Danish origin , founder of the Société of Geography . His/her brother, Conradin, were a painter and died in 1850. Victor-Adolphe is only 10 years old when his/her father dies, but it grows in the memory of the reputation of his father.

In 1846, Eugene Cortambert, professor and member of the Company of Geography, publish a Cours of geography directly inspired of works of Malta-Brown Conrad in which he says that the geography is the general painting of nature, humanity and her work. This humanistic vision joined the will of Victor-Adolphe to be devoted to a modern geography built on other bases that an enumeration of the places.

Victor Adolphe Malta-Brown will become in your turn member of the Company of Geography (of Paris), in 1851, secretary-assistant in 1852 and will become general secretary about it, during the years 1860-1867 (his/her father had itself be the first general secretary, in 1822-1824). At the time it left the station, he will become the first honorary General secretary. From 1852 to 1867, it will have the responsibility for edition of the Bulletin of the Company of Geography and it will sign its hand, more than one hundred articles.

From 1851 to 1855, it will publish a new edition of the work of his father, the Précis of Universal Geography .

Since 1851, it was interested in the project of boring of a channel in Central America between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The first project of Alexander von Humboldt will lead in May 1879 to the International Congrès of studies of the interoceanic Channel chaired by Ferdinand de Lesseps. Victor-Adolphe will present to this occasion a chart of the 18 existing projects. It will be noticed that in addition to his talents of writer, Victor-Adolphe will be also an excellent cartographer.

He rests with the Cimetière of Montparnasse to Paris.

A mountain of New Zealand, in the chain of the the New Zealand Alps (Island of the South), also bears its name: the Malta-Brown Mount (culminating, according to the sources, between 3  176  m and 3  199  m). However, nothing says which of the two geographers was honoured by this designation.

Malta-brown in Marcoussis

• Its name was given to a street Marcoussis where it had a country house where according to its dires, it came during the beautiful season, to breathe the fresh air of wood and the fields and to recover from tirednesses of the City.

• It will very often come in its country house where it will live during a score of years with his partner, Augustine-Alphonsine Charpentier, born the September 12th 1850. After the death of Malta-Brown, she will marry in 1891, Eusèbe Debled, artist-painter, mayor of Linas. She died assassinated with Linas in 1917.
• Present at Marcoussis during the War of 1870, it will describe the occupation of the village of the September 15th 1870 with the February 10th 1871 by the Bavarian troops in an opuscule of 30 pages entitled Histoire of a commune of Seine-et-Oise during the German occupation , Challamel Ainé, Paris, 1871.

Selection of works of Malta-Brown

• History of Marcoussis (1867)

• illustrated France , two volumes and an atlas (1853); volumes I to VI and one atlas (1884), the editions Deck house.
• illustrated Germany, five volume (1885 - 1888), with the editions Deck house.
• young travellers in France or picturesque Description of the ground and curiosities of this country (1841)

Malta-brown in the work of Jules Verne

It is known that the writing of the novels were based on an enormous documentation and Jules Verne received the communications of the Société of Geography. He will on several occasions refer to Malta-Brown as in:

• Five weeks in balloon , at the beginning of the novel:

the details of the company appeared all with length in the Bulletins of the Geographical Company of Paris; a remarkable article was printed in “New Annals of the voyages, the geography, the history and the archeology of Mr. V. - has. Malta-Brown ”…

• Children of the captain Grant ,

With regard to lady Helena, when he learned that it was girl of William Tuffnel, it was an explosion of admiring interjections. He had known his father. What a erudite daring! How of letters they exchanged, when William Tuffnel was member corresponding of the company! It was him, itself, which had presented it with Malta-Brown Mr. !

• Twenty thousand miles under the seas

Quel flash crossed my  spirit! There Atlantis, old Méropide de Théopompe, Atlantis of Plato, this continent denied by Origène, Porphyre, Jamblique, of Anville, Malta-Brown , Humboldt, which put its disappearance at the account of the legendary accounts, admitted by Possidonius, Pline, Ammien-Marcellin, Tertullien, Engel, Sherer, Tournefort, Buffon, of Avezac, I had it under the eyes, still carrying irrecusable testimonys of his catastrophe !

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