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Paul Du Chaillu

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Explorer

The Resume

    (circa July 31, 1835-April 29, 1903)
    Explorer, zoologist and ethnologist
    Led two expeditions in West Africa (1855-59,1863-65)
    Later studied the history of Viking-era Scandinavia
    Wrote ‘Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa’ (1861), ‘Journey to Ashangoland and Further Penetration into Equatorial Africa’ (1867), ‘The Country of the Dwarfs’ (1872), ‘The Land of the Midnight Sun’ (1881) and ‘The Viking Age’ (1889)
    Last name pronounced ‘du shay-you’

Why he might be annoying:

    His year of birth has been given as anywhere between 1831 and 1839.
    His birthplace was given at various times as Paris, New Orleans, New York City and Reunion.
    He may have tried to obscure his background to hide that his mother was half black.
    The first edition of his ‘Explorations and Adventures’ copied illustrations from other books without credit.
    He reported some tall tales about gorillas, such as depicting one killing a hunter then bending the dead man’s gun.

Why he might not be annoying:

    During his travels, he was elected king of the Apingi tribe (1865).
    He brought back the first gorilla skins to Europe.
    He was the first Westerner to confirm the existence of Pygmies.
    He wrote a number of popular children’s books about his travels.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying