Jacques-Victor-Édouard Taitbout de Marigny was a French aristocrat, diplomat, geographer, archaeologist, artist, and collector of antiquities. His writings became important sources for the study of the history, geography, and culture of the Black Sea region during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Early Life

Jacques-Victor-Édouard Taitbout de Marigny was born on 28 March 1793 in Koroni, on the Peloponnese, into the family of the French consul general. He belonged to an old French aristocratic family that had suffered during the French Revolution.

In 1809, his family emigrated to the Russian Empire. The young Taitbout de Marigny entered Russian service and soon found himself in the Black Sea region, which would shape the rest of his life.

While working in the Caucasus, he studied the local peoples, geography, and opportunities for the development of trade. In 1818, together with the Italian merchant Raffaello Scassi, he undertook an expedition to the coast of Circassia, where he explored the culture of the Adyghe peoples, particularly the Shapsugs and Natukhajs.

Odessa: The Centre of His Diplomatic and Scientific Activities

In 1821, Taitbout de Marigny was appointed vice-consul of the Netherlands in the Black Sea ports. He initially worked in Feodosia, but Odessa became the principal city of his life.

In 1830, he was appointed Dutch consul in Odessa, and in 1848 he became consul general of the Netherlands for the Black Sea and Azov ports.

At the time, Odessa was one of the most important international ports on the Black Sea, a city where trade routes connecting Europe, the Mediterranean, and the East converged. For Taitbout de Marigny, Odessa became the base from which he conducted his scientific journeys and diplomatic missions.

He became actively involved in the city's intellectual life and joined the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities, one of the most important scholarly institutions in southern Ukraine during the nineteenth century.

Explorer of the Black Sea

While based in Odessa, Taitbout de Marigny spent many years exploring the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. In 1821, 1823–1825, and throughout the period from 1829 to 1851, he undertook numerous expeditions, studying not only maritime routes but also ancient monuments, the history of settlements, and the cultures of the peoples inhabiting the Black Sea region.

He was particularly interested in the remains of ancient civilisations encountered along the Black Sea coast. Like many European scholars working in Odessa at the time, he regarded the region as a unique meeting place of classical antiquity, the Ottoman past, and emerging European culture.

In Odessa, he worked on an ambitious study of the hydrography of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Hydrographie de la mer Noire et de la mer d’Azow, comparée à celle de l’antiquité et du moyen âge (Hydrography of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Compared with That of Antiquity and the Middle Ages), which was intended to include an atlas of 77 maps.

Voyage en Circassie: Introducing the Caucasus to Europe

Taitbout de Marigny's best-known work was Voyage en Circassie (Journey to Circassia), first published in French in Brussels in 1821.

Based on his expeditions along the Black Sea coast, the book attracted considerable attention among European readers. In it, he described the natural environment of the Caucasus, the everyday lives of the Adyghe peoples, their customs, political organisation, and spiritual culture.

What distinguished his accounts was their foundation in direct observation: rather than merely collecting information from other sources, he personally communicated with the inhabitants of the region.

The First Scientific Description of Snake Island

One of Taitbout de Marigny's most important contributions to the study of the Black Sea was his description of Snake Island, considered the first detailed scientific account of this strategically important island off the Ukrainian coast.

His work Portulan de la mer Noire et de la mer d’Azov (Sailing Directions for the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, or a Description of the Coasts of These Two Seas for the Use of Mariners) was published in Odessa in 1830.

The publication became one of the earliest systematic navigational and geographical studies of the Black Sea region based on the author's personal observations.

In his work, Taitbout de Marigny provided a detailed description of the small island, whose ancient Greek name, Fidonisi, was preserved by the Russians, while the Turks called it Yılan Adası (“Island of Snakes”).

He recorded that the island lay approximately 23 miles northeast of the mouth of the Danube, had an almost square shape, and measured about 325 toises (approximately 630 metres) at its greatest length. According to his measurements, the island rose approximately 20 metres above sea level.

To modern readers, these characteristics may seem like ordinary geographical data. In the early nineteenth century, however, they were the results of demanding maritime expeditions and possessed considerable scientific value.

Taitbout de Marigny paid particular attention to the island's coastline, describing its steep, rocky shores and the few locations suitable for landing vessels.

He also documented the seabed surrounding the island, covered with silt and shells, its sparse vegetation, a large well on its summit, and the remains of ancient structures.

The island's classical history was of particular interest to him. He noted that in antiquity Snake Island had been known as Leuke (the White Island) and Makaron (the Island of the Blessed).

According to ancient sources, the island was home to a temple dedicated to Achilles, where a statue of the hero stood and where visiting sailors left offerings accompanied by sacred inscriptions.

In this way, Taitbout de Marigny combined the navigational science of his time with an investigation of the Black Sea's ancient heritage.

His description of Snake Island became part of a broader tradition established by nineteenth-century Odessa scholars, who explored the history of the Black Sea region through the combined study of archaeology, geography, and navigation.

Legacy

Jacques-Victor-Édouard Taitbout de Marigny died in 1852, leaving behind a substantial scientific and cultural legacy.

For Odessa, he represents the European intellectual community of the nineteenth century that helped shape the city's distinctive atmosphere, characterised by openness to international connections, scientific inquiry, and cultural exchange.

His works remain valuable sources for historians, archaeologists, and ethnographers, while his activities form an important part of Odessa's multicultural history as one of the principal centres of the Black Sea world.