Conrad Malte-Brun

Conrad Malte-Brun (; born Malthe Conrad Bruun; 12 August 177514 December 1826), sometimes referred to simply as Malte-Brun, was a Dano-French geographer and journalist. His second son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, was also a geographer. Today he is perhaps best remembered for coining the name for both the geographic regions of Oceania (French ) around 1812 and Indo-China in 1804.

Biography Born in Thisted to an administrator of Danish crown lands, Malte-Brun was originally destined for a career as a pastor, but chose instead to attend classes at the University of Copenhagen, and became a supporter of the French Revolution and an activist in favor of freedom of the press. Following the harsh censorship laws instituted by the Danish ruler crown prince Frederick in September 1799, he was indicted because of his many pamphlets which contained outright criticism of the government, which the new censorship laws forbade. A particular cause for offence was a pamphlet he published in 1795 entitled "Catechism of the Aristocrats."

Malte-Brun arrived in France in November 1799, and began work on a geography treatise meant as a gift to his adoptive country. A poem on the death of Andreas Peter Bernstorff which he published during his exile procured for him permission to return to Denmark. But another pamphlet against the aristocracy subjected him to a new prosecution, and he left his country, and finally took up his residence in Paris. In December 1800, the Danish courts pronounced sentence of perpetual banishment against him, which was rescinded about the time of his death. See Australian feral camel.

The importance of Malte-Brun's work can be seen also in Albanology. In his sixth volume of Universal Geography published in 1826 an original Albanian alphabet is mentioned (erroneously thought to be from the first millennium), that opened a whole new research perspective followed by Johann Georg von Hahn, Leopold Geitler, Gjergj Pekmezi and others. Seven original Albanian alphabets have been discovered since.

He died in Paris in 1826, as he was drafting the final version of his major work, the . This appeared in eight volumes (1810–1829), the last two volumes being by Huot. Malte-Brun's name was given to streets in both Paris (20th arrondissement) and Thisted.