Who was the 18th century French eccentric who proposed the Dutch colonize SW Australia?

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As it turns out, it wasn't an eccentric French scientist at all. It was a servant of the VOC originally from French-speaking Switzerland by the name of Jean Pierre Purry. He perhaps knew about the ideas of the French cartographer Melchisedech Thevenot and in any case outlined how the mediterranean climate was mirrored on the southern hemisphere at corresponding latitudes. In a proposal to colonize the land, he enthousiastically wrote how the climate must be highly favourable for settlement by Europeans. His ideas were later referred to by several other authors, amongst whom British Geographer Emanuel Bowen.

More here: http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/jean-pierre/

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