Maurice Benyovszky - King of Madagascar

In the Slovak town of Vrbové, not far from the popular Piešťany spa, a Baroque curia bearing a beautiful coat of arms of the Benyovszky family can be found in the town square. The marine yacht in the bottom right hand corner of the coat of arms signifies the count Maurice Benyovszky who was born there in 1746.

Maurice Benyovszky became famous as a globetrotter, adventurer, explorer, coloniser, soldier, writer and King of Madagascar. He became the first European to circumnavigate the northern part of the Pacific Ocean long before James Cook and de LaPerouse. He also explored the west coast of Alaska, was the first to explore St. Lawrence Island and sailed all the way to Macau on the south east coast of Asia. Benyovszky was the first Slovak to become significantly involved in the development of several countries such as Poland, France, Austria, USA and Madagascar.

A rather large collection of information has been preserved regarding the life of Maurice Benyovszky. Prior to 1764 he entered the imperial Austrian army, in 1768 he served as a warrant officer in the Polish regiment of Radziwill and Pulawsky. Af ter being arrested for his participation in the rebellion of the Polish against Russia, he was interned in Kazan, fled to St. Petersburg, but was handed over to the imperial police by a captain when attempting to escape on a Dutch ship. In 1770 he was sent to exile in Kamchatka, where he organised a rebellion of prisoners a year later. The rebels seized a ship and sailed to the Portuguese colony of Macau, where Maurice established his first official contact with the French. Shortly after coming to France he was commissioned to go on a military and trade mission to Madagascar.

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Unfavourable natural conditions and rivalry between representatives of other companies were making the establishment of a trading post increasingly difficult. Maurice befriended the natives and on October 1 1776, on the Mahevelou, plane they proclaimed him the King of Madagascar. The local chief became so fond of him, that he even learned his name, although with „a bit“ strange pronunciation. However, the colonists liked the garbled version so much, that they never called him anything else but „Kimori“. In 1777 he returned to France to receive new aid and to replenish his crew. The French King Ludwig XV appointed him a brigadier but rejected his plans for the colonisation of Madagascar.

In 1778 he returned to Austria, entered the imperial army and was made a count. He later developed a marine trade project from the town of Komárno to Rijeka, which was not, however, approved by the Austrian Royal Court. His acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin motivated him to seek help in the USA, but Congress refused his proposal to colonise Madagascar. He was only able to establish a trading company in Baltimore in 1784.

In 1785 Maurice reached Madagascar – this time as a representative of England and began to build the new capital of his intended empire of Mauretania (named after himself) on Cape East. The development of an English settlement was not, however, popular with the French who conquered it during an unexpected attack. Benyovszky died in the battle in his Mauretania in 1786 and was buried there along with two Russian refugees who had accompanied him since his escape from Kamchatka. Local legend shows that Maurice has retained his status of national hero and significant personality in the history of the island.

Maurice wrote Memoirs and Travels, which was later published by J. H. Magellan, a descendant of his namesake, the Portuguese seafarer. The original French manuscript is now located in the British Museum in London.

By Beata Pašková
Photo: iStockPhoto, archive Slovenská národná knižnica

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