Levraud's Crake, or ditto Rail (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Instead of the many subspecies, and various invalid synonyms, that we've been dealing with recently, let's have a quick look at a full valid species, and the guy behind it, commemorated in the eponym ...

levraudi as in:
• the Rusty-flanked Crake Laterallus levraudi SCLATER & SALVIN 1869 (here, and the Plate here), as "Porzana levraudi", a k a Levraud's Crake (alt. Rail):

Hab. Venezuela, in vicin. urbis Caraccas (Levraud).

He's also mentioned (just as brief) on p.454, and (somewhat longer) on p.455; "Levraud, in Mus. Par.", and on p.458; "Levraud, in Mus. Paris."

In today's Key explained as:

levraudi
Léonce Levraud (fl. 1857) French diplomat, Consul in Ecuador 1840, Consul-Gen. in Chile 1848, Consul in Venezuela 1856-1857, collector (Laterallus).

Surely, a Diplomat, with several Postings, ought to be able to find!? Commemorated in a full species. Odd that we don't seem to know more about him. Or did he simply disappear in around Caracas, Venezuela ... ?

Either way, I think the guy we're looking for was/is: Léonce Benjamin LEVRAUD (see here), listed below: "ARCHIVO DEL MINISTERIO DE ASUNTOS EXTRANJEROS – Anuario diplomático (de 1860 a 1888)" ...

Simply following that; does this short French text (No. 571) takes us any closer to him, ... ? Or this snippet view?

However, I think this is the guy we ought to be looking for: Léonce Levraud (1812-c.1867), a k a Leoncio ditto (in Venezuela), whose full (French) name might have been: Léonce Benjamin? Levraud.

If so, in short: Born in Paris, 21st of August, 1812 ... retired in 1862, and died (in the same Paris) in about 1867.

See DHV (Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela = here, all in Spanish):

Cónsul general y encargado de negocios de Francia en Caracas entre 1854 y 1859. Hijo del médico y diputado francés Benjamín Levraud. Licenciado en derecho en la Universidad de París (9.10.1835), inicia su carrera diplomática en Quito (Ecuador) en enero de 1836. Agregado al consulado de Francia en Quito (1838), es nombrado cónsul de segunda clase en Guayaquil (1840-1848) donde enfrenta una epidemia de fiebre amarilla (1840-1841). Encargado del consulado general de Francia en Quito (1843) y del de Santiago de Chile (1845), asume en 1848 el cargo de cónsul de segunda clase en Veracruz (México) y es encargado de negocios interino de Francia en Lima (1849). Trasladado a Santiago de Cuba como cónsul de primera clase (1849-1853), debe regresar a Francia por estar gravemente enfermo. De nuevo en Lima encargado de los intereses franceses (julio-agosto 1854), es nombrado cónsul general y encargado de negocios de Francia en Caracas (septiembre 1854), pero solo toma posesión del cargo en agosto de 1855. A raíz de la Revolución de Marzo encabezada por el general Julián Castro, José Tadeo Monagas envió su renuncia de la Presidencia de la República al Congreso Nacional y se asiló por precaución en la Legación de Francia, a cargo de Levraud (15.3.1858), quien tuvo que enfrentar las amenazas infligidas por las masas a la sede de la legación, así como los gritos de «...Muera Monagas, mueran los ladrones...». Dicha situación puso en movimiento a los otros ministros extranjeros quienes acudieron en su ayuda. Al presentarse un representante del nuevo gobierno con órdenes de arresto para Monagas, los encargados de negocios de Francia y de Inglaterra gestionaron ante el secretario venezolano de Relaciones Exteriores la mejor manera de salvar a Monagas, invocando para ello el derecho de asilo. El 25 de marzo, el secretario de Relaciones Exteriores Wenceslao Urrutia le dirigió a Levraud una nota rogándole que removiese todo inconveniente para entregar a Monagas, pero al día siguiente se logró negociar un convenio al cual se le dio el nombre de Protocolo Urrutia por el cual se pondría al general Monagas a la orden del gobierno, estableciéndose que no sería sometido a juicio y se le trataría con todo «... decoro y miramiento...». El 15 de abril de 1858, Levraud manifestó su descontento por incumplimiento de lo establecido en el Protocolo, por lo que le dirigió a Urrutia una nota declarando que suspendería sus relaciones oficiales con el gobierno provisorio de Venezuela y que se limitaría a despachar los negocios consulares. Resuelto el conflicto, Levraud figuró en 1859 entre los franceses residentes en Caracas que ayudaban públicamente a los federalistas y, según Juan Vicente González, fue uno de los principales fomentadores de la «facción de Galipán». El mismo González lo menciona, además, como el autor del asesinato del editor francés Lavisse, como venganza por una litografía que este último había hecho, en donde el diplomático de Napoleón III figuraba en compañía de una dama. Ante esta situación, el gobierno venezolano solicitó su remoción. Regresa Levraud a Francia en febrero de 1860 y en seguida es enviado a Puerto Príncipe (Haití) como cónsul general y encargado de negocios. En mayo de 1861, pide ser relevado de sus funciones, alegando motivos de salud y a fines de 1862 es pasado a retiro.

To me, it looks like a match!?!

I assume he's not to be confused with this this guy (and namesake)? Born in 1843. Maybe that's a relative of "our guy", who knows? From the little I understand (of French) his Father, in his turn, (also?) seems to have been some kind of Diplomat ("chargé d'affaires"), at least according to the old and tainted News Paper clip attached to that Wiki-page.

Either way, and all in all, I think we still miss an exact Death year (and ditto date & location, of course), as well as a plausible Middle name, of course.

Anyone of our "French" friends that feel like filling in the gaps?

Björn

PS. This guy is not included in my MS, thereby not checked any further than what's told above. I just happened to stumble upon "his" Bird, and the texts above, as a side-track/detour, while looking for others.

 

[l_raty]

A Léonce Benjamin Levraud was born in Paris, 2e Arrondissement, on 21/22 Aug 1812: here, 41/51 (22 Aug), 42/51 (21 Aug).
(I assume these are duplicates, concerning the same person -- probably born on 21 Aug, declared on 22 Aug.)

A Léonce Adam Levraud was born in 11e Arrondissement on 27 Apr 1843 (same file, 46/51 and 47/51). (This one became a politician and has a Wikipedia page. Anyway, I don't think someone born in 1843 in Paris would be likely to have collected a rail in Caracas in 1855.)

 

[mb1848]

A book online describes him as a Chevalier of the legion of honor, but I can not find that on legion's database.
Reports from Her Majesty's Embassies and Missions Abroad on the Subject of Consular Conventions .
If you downloaded the Phelps 1944/1945 article in the andrei name thread Phelps dicusses Levraud a little. He quotes Berlioz as saying
He sent to the Paris Museum a collection of
almost 500 skins, almost all well preserved to date. I can only find 25 at their website.
Nom du récolteur: Levraud, Léonce .
This is Phelps cite to Menegaux et Hellmayr.
Bulletin .

 

[PScofield]

Died 2 Jan 1875. Buried 8 Jan 1875 in Cimetière de Montparnasse (14e)



Exhumation on 5 April 1875!

 

[l_raty]

He actually died in Nice: here, 5/524, lower right.

As I understand it, on 8 Jan 1875, his body had been placed in a temporary vault ("Caveau prov[isoi]re Vessy"); on 5 Apr 1875, it was moved to what was presumably his final grave.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Les Trois Mousquetaires to the rescue!

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

One, final question ...

Does it all match the following footnote (giving us his Father's name), from De l'intérêt d'être consul en Méditerranée, XVIIe-XXe siècle (2019):

70. Léonce Benjamin Levraud reçoit de l’argent et des « affaires » de son père : MAE, DP no 2612, François Benjamin Levraud (le père) au ministre, 12 décembre 1842.

[from here, see page 141]​

​

 

[l_raty]

Does it all match the following footnote (giving us his Father's name), from De l'intérêt d'être consul en Méditerranée, XVIIe-XXe siècle (2019):

This is a reference to a personal file (D[ossier] P[ersonnel] no 2612) in the archives of the French Ministry of foreign affairs (MAE), which seems to have indicated that the father gave money and other "things" to his son in 1842; this reference is provided to illustrate the suggestion (pp. 134-135) that French Consuls of this time were underpaid, and sometimes had to resort to financial aid from relatives.
Without seeing the file itself, I can't really tell you more about this issue. But I see no conflict with the rest of what was written here.
His father's name is in his death record as well; his mother was named Sophie Duparge.

 

[mb1848]

Apropos of nothing I think his pere was Le député François Benjamin LEVRAUD (1774-1855) so a deputy of the national assembly. A big job.