François Martin de Vitré

François Martin de Vitré (; 1575 – 1631) was a French sailor and adventurer from the town of Vitré who traveled to East Asia as far as Sumatra from 1601 to 1603. He was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East. He was, however, preceded to the Far East by several French traders, such as Jean Parmentier in 1529. De Vitré was the surgeon of his ship. Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin, were sent around the Cape of Good Hope in May 1601. The Corbin was wrecked in the Maldives, beginning the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval, who managed to return to France in 1611.

Martin and another Frenchman, François Pyrard, were among the first Frenchmen to visit India. They went to Surat and also visited the town of Gujarat.

In his Memoires, Martin wrote that the world was learning from China at that time.

On his return, King Henry IV directed Martin to write an account of his travels. They were published in 1604.

In 1609, a Malay language dictionary was added to Martin's work, possibly the work of Pierre-Olivier Malherbe, also from Vitré, who was just returning from a 27-year world tour and has a claim to being the first French circumnavigator.

Works La Description du premier voyage fait aux Indes orientales par les Français en l'an 1603, contenant les mœurs, les lois, façon de vivre, religions et habits des Indiens, Paris (1604) Une Description et Remarque des animaux, épiceries, drogues aromatiques et fruits qui se trouvent aux Indes Un Traité du scorbut, qui est une maladie étrange qui survient à ceux qui voyagent en ces contrées, Paris (1609)