Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie

Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie d'Arrast, listed in the Chambers Biographical Dictionary as Michel Arnaud d'Abbadie (born 24 July 1815 in Dublin; died 8 November 1893 in Ciboure) was an Irish-born French and Basque explorer, best known for his travels in Ethiopia with his elder brother Antoine d'Abbadie d'Arrast. Arnaud was a geographer, ethnologist, linguist, familiar with the Abyssinian polemarch and an active witness to their battles and the life of their courts. The general account of the two brothers' travels was published by Arnaud in 1868 under the title .

Early life
Arnaud's father, Michel Arnauld d'Abbadie (1772–1832), descended from an old family of lay abbots of Arrast, a commune in the canton of Mauléon. In 1791, to escape the consequences of the Revolution, Michel Arnauld emigrated first to Spain, then to England and Ireland, where he became a shipowner and imported Spanish wines. He married Eliza Thompson of Park (1779–1865), the daughter of a doctor, on 18 July 1807 in Thurles, County Tipperary.

Arnaud d'Abbadie, born in Dublin on 24 July 1815, was the fourth child and second son of six:


 * Elisa (1808–1875), who married Alexandre Glais-Bizoin;
 * Antoine (1810–1896);
 * Celina (1811–1894),
 * Arnaud Michel (1815–1893);
 * Julia (1820–1900), who married Bernard Cluzeau de Cléran;
 * Charles Jean (1821–1901), who married Marie-Augustine-Émilie-Henriette Coulomb

Arnaud's father returned to France in 1820 and obtained from Louis XVIII the addition of d'Arrast to his patronymic d'Abbadie.

1815–1836
Like Antoine, Arnaud was educated by a governess until the age of 12, when he entered the Lycée Henri IV in Paris. Arnaud had a great ability to learn languages and was fluent in English, Latin and Greek.



At seventeen, his friends introduced him to Freemasonry as a benevolent, philanthropic society. Arnaud was interested, but on the day of his initiation he was asked to take an oath not to reveal the secrets of the sect. It was a revelation for him: "If these men hide, it is because they are guilty. Only those who are ashamed of their deeds flee from the light." So he refused to take the oath.

At twenty, Arnaud wanted to join the military because he was fascinated by the colonization of Algeria. His mother, however, was adamantly opposed to a military career and sent him to Audaux in the Basque Country, to the land of his ancestors. Arnaud travelled around the Basque country and learnt the Basque language. He lived with his brother Antoine at the castle of Audaux.

Arnaud knew of his elder brother's plan to explore Abyssinia and decided to accompany him and discover the sources of the Nile. .

Exploration of Abyssinia (1837–1849)
Antoine and Arnaud spent twelve years exploring Abyssinia, which was largely unknown to the Europeans of the nineteenth century, who were increasingly exploring Africa, but initially confined themselves to the great rivers. The geography, geodesy, geology and ethnography of vast areas of Africa remained completely unknown and the Harar-Mogadishu-Cape Guardafui triangle on the Horn of Africa remained blank on the maps of 1840.



The territory was vast. The provinces of Abyssinia covered more than 300,000 km2. The conditions were extremely difficult. Wars were constant and loyal allies could become enemies from one day to the next. Historians call this period the Era of Princes or the Zemene Mesafint. Linguistic barriers were many. The Ethiopian alphabet has 267 characters used by about thirty languages and dialects. Endemic diseases were numerous: typhus, leprosy and ophthalmia. The suspicions of the colonial powers also hindered research: The British, Italians, Germans and Turks all suspected the d'Abbadie brothers of spying.

Arnaud was an ethnologist whose main objective was to study the different peoples he met during his travels. Antoine, on the other hand, aimed to locate the sources of the Nile, map the country, and take geodetic and astronomical measurements. He invented new techniques, and the maps he produced were surpassed only by the advent of aerial and satellite photography.

Arnaud and Antoine were both devout Catholics from a family of lay abbots. Antoine himself said that without the events of 1793, he would have signed as "Antoine d’Abbadie, abbé lai d’Arrast en Soule." They went to the Ethiopian mountains to assist the declining Christian religion, which was threatened by the conquering Islam. Arnaud aimed to rebuild the former Christian Empire of Ethiopia and link the state to the "protection" of France, thereby thwarting British colonization in East Africa.

In order to travel to this challenging country, it was essential for them to have a thorough understanding of its customs and traditions. They made inquiries to the best of their ability before departing from France, and their observations on the country's ethnology, language, and politics were of utmost importance.

Stay in Abyssinia
The two brothers had contrasting personalities. Antoine, the scientist, appeared to be the more conciliatory of the two, but he achieved his goals through perseverance and patience. He dressed as an Ethiopian scholar, known as a 'memhir', and walked barefoot, as only lepers and Jews wore sandals. He worked diligently to assimilate and was soon referred to as "the man of the book".

Arnaud was flamboyant and stood out, forging ties with princes and warlords, participating in battles, and coming close to death many times. Above all, he was the friend and confidant of Dejazmach Goshu, prince of Gojjam, who considered him his son. Arnaud was known as "ras Michael".



In 1987 the historian, jurist, linguist and high Ethiopian official  published verses, distiches from the Era of Princes which refer to Arnaud ("ras Michael"): "I have not even provisions to offer them, / Let the earth devour me in the place of the men of ras Michael. / Is it an oversight of the embosser or the lack of bronze / That the scabbard of Michael's saber has no ornamentation?.

For tactical reasons, Arnaud and Antoine travelled separately and spent little time together, but kept in touch. They united for the Ennarea expedition to the kingdom of Kaffa in search of the source of the White Nile.

In general, Arnaud prepared the ground for Antoine by making the first visits and approaches to the local lords. Antoine then quietly gathered valuable information on the geography, geology, archaeology, and natural history of Ethiopia.

Sources of the Nile
Since ancient times it had been known that the Nile results from the confluence of two rivers near Khartoum in Sudan, the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The source of these two rivers remained a mystery until the eighteenth century. The goal of the brothers was to find the source of the White Nile, which some geographers (especially Joseph-Pons d'Arnaud) believed to be in the kingdom of Kaffa.

Blue Nile


The source of the Blue Nile had been found by the Portuguese monk Pedro Páez in 1618 and visited by the Scottish explorer James Bruce in 1770. The river rises near Gish Abay, 100 km southwest of Lake Tana, crosses the lake with a noticeable current (as the Rhône crosses Lake Geneva), then exits at Baher Dar and makes a long loop towards Khartoum.

In 1840–1841, Arnaud was in the vicinity of the spring with troops of Lidj Dori and took the time to visit it. He was the third European to do so. He gave a rather brief description on his book. Arnauld gave little importance to the precise, more or less arbitrary, name of the source of a river with multiple tributaries: "But I leave these questions, those which flow from them, and the theories which give rise to them, to those for whom they contain a first-rate interest; what mattered most to me in my visit to the famous springs of Abbaïe was the study of the populations that had to be crossed to reach them" In June–July 1844, Antoine was with the army of Dejazmach Birru, the son of Dejazmach Goshu, who wanted to subdue two provinces near the source. Naturally, Antoine wanted to be the fifth European to visit "the Eye of Abbaia" (the English explorer mentioned by Antoine in his account is probably Charles Beke, who followed the course of the Blue Nile from Khartoum). Birru gave him an escort of fifteen spears to protect him in that hostile country. Antoine wrote a detailed description of the source and geographical measurements he made.

White Nile
There remained the White Nile and its source. In April 1844, Antoine published his ideas and observations on the possible tributaries of the White Nile.

Antoine and Arnaud d'Abbadie believed that the Omo River was the main tributary of the White Nile. Because the Ghibie River was the main tributary of the Omo, they consideref the source of the Ghibie to be the source of the White Nile. After suffering many difficulties and dangers, on January 15, 1846, the two brothers arrived at the source of the Ghibie in the Babya forest north of Jimma. They planted the French flag and drank to the health of King Louis-Philippe I. The coordinates of the source are: 7° 56' 37.68" N, 36° 54' 183 E28.

Unfortunately, their basic assumption was wrong: the Omo is not a tributary of the White Nile.

As soon as Antoine announced the discovery his assertion was contested, notably by the English explorer Charles Beke. Antoine d'Abbadie retaliated as soon as he became aware of Beke's communication.

The published correspondence between Antoine d'Abbadie and Charles Beke is very hushed, but vitriolic. Beke analyzed Antony's observations in detail and indicated a number of plausible errors or inconsistencies. But the situation between the two men was such that Beke openly saif that he believed that Antoine d'Abbadie never went to the kingdom of Kaffa invented everything. In protest, Beke returned the gold medal, awarded to him by the Geographical Society in 1846, for his exploration of the Blue Nile.

1850–1893
On 26 July 1850 Antoine and Arnaud d'Abbadie d'Arrast received the gold medal of the Société de Géographie. On September 27, 1850, the two brothers were made knights of the Legion of Honor.

Return to Ethiopia
Arnaud returned to France on a mission to complete his project of a Christian empire in Ethiopia with Dejazmach Goshu as sovereign, under the protection of France. He addressed his report to the government through the Duke of Bassano. The latter responded favourably, and without an official mission, Arnaud was instructed to bring diplomatic gifts to Goshu on behalf of France to promote an alliance. Arnaud's mother had asked him not to cross the Tekezé, a sub-tributary of the Black Nile on the western border of Tigray, so that he could easily reach the sea to return to France.

Upon landing in Massawa, news of the return of "Ras Michael" spread, and Dejazmach Goshu eagerly awaited his friend's arrival. Unfortunately, Goshu was on the other side of the river in Gojjam, and Arnaud kept his promise, unable to join him. Arnaud and Dejazmach Goshu exchanged many letters, but Arnaud remained faithful to his oath.

In November 1852, the Battle of Gur Amba ended with Dejazmach Goshu's death and Kassa Hailou's victory, who would later become Tewodros II.

For Arnaud, it was a disaster; he had lost a dear friend, and his hope of building a Christian empire vanished with him. Desperate, he returned to France at the end of December 1852.

His last attempt to link France and Ethiopia was in 1863. During this time, the British had a strong presence in the region, including Sudan, Aden, and Somalia, and were interested in extending their protection to Ethiopia. However, the Negus was willing to resist the British offer if France provided military aid. Arnaud requested an audience with Napoleon III to explain the benefits that France could offer. Although the emperor listened politely, he ultimately refused to intervene due to alliances signed with England. In 1868, the British expedition to Ethiopia placed the country under the protection of the British Empire.

Second marriage and children
Arnaud married an American, Elisabeth West Young; she was the daughter of Robert West Young (1805–1880), a physician and Anne Porter Webb.



They had nine children:
 * Anne Elisabeth (1865–1918) ;
 * Michel Robert (1866–1900) ;
 * Thérèse (1867–1945) ;
 * Ferdinand Guilhem (1870–1915)
 * Marie-Angèle (1871–1955) ;
 * Camille Arnauld (1873–1968) ;
 * Jéhan Augustin (1874–1912) ;
 * Martial (1878–1914) ;
 * Marc Antoine (1883–1914).

His salon, rue de Grenelle, was a regular appointment for intelligent and educated men, but Arnauld hated worldliness and he left Paris with his family to return to the Basque Country. He built the castle of Elhorriaga in Ciboure, designed by the architect Lucien Cottet. The castle was occupied by the Wehrmacht during the Second World War and was destroyed in 1985 to make way for a real estate project.

Life in Ciboure and death


In Ciboure he quickly gained a reputation as a charitable man, but always remained discreet. The first volume of the account of travels in Ethiopia was published by Arnauld in 1868 under the title Twelve years in Upper Ethiopia. It recounts the period 1837-1841. The next three volumes were not published during his lifetime. Volume 1 was translated for the first time in 2016 into the Ethiopian language and Volume 2 in 2020 under the title "በኢትዮጵያ ከፍተኛ ተራሮች ቆይታዬ" (My stay in the high mountains of Ethiopia).

Arnaud died on 8 November 1893; he is buried in the cemetery of Ciboure. The photograph in Ethiopian clothes was taken shortly before his death.

The memory of "Ras Michael" remained alive in Ethiopia for a long time, indeed Emperor Menelik II and his wife referred to him: "[…] 'He had, in his person, made to love the France. And if we have sympathies among this people today, the old men and Menelik himself will tell you the reason: 'We have not forgotten Ras Michael...' '.."