Jean-Baptiste Lislet Geoffroy

Jean-Baptiste Lislet Geoffroy (born Jean-Baptiste Lislet; also known as Jean-Baptiste Lislet-Geoffroy; 23 August 1755 – 8 February 1836) was a French astronomer, botanist and cartographer.

Early life Lislet Geoffroy was born on 23 August 1755 in Saint-Pierre, Réunion and died on 8 February 1836 in Port-Louis (Mauritius). Lislet's father had freed his mother in order to ensure his son was not born enslaved.

His father was reputed to have been born in Paris and be of Breton ethnicity. Lislet Geoffroy stated that his mother was named Niama and was the daughter of Toucu Niamba, King of Galam (in modern-day Senegal). Outside of geography, he worked in geology, showing that the shoal, Isle Plate around Mauritius was formed by the debris of the crater of a volcano.

Lislet Geoffroy was the uncle of abolitionist novelist Louis Timagène Houat. He married and had two children. His wife died in 1804. (succeeded in 1805 by the Société Royale des Arts et Sciences de Maurice, which persists to this day). Cofounders of the group were Jacques Milbert, Jean-Baptiste Dumont, Jacques Delisse, and Jean-Baptiste Bory de St. Vincent. Until 1934, he was the only man of color to have been a member of the academy.