Please attach the profiles of French Huguenots who were born in Dauphiné. If possible, also add their names into the text below, according to their country of emigration.

• All welcome to join & contribute

(Map: Coertzen, Pieter. 1988. Die Hugenote Van Suid Afrika 1688-1988: Cape Town, Tafelberg.)

Background History of Dauphiné at the time of the Huguenot Diaspora

The French provinces of Provence and Dauphiné, together with south-eastern Burgundy, lie within this part of Europe. .. Apart from the coastal strip and the river valleys, particularly that of the Rhone, this region is dominated by the massive mountain ranges of the Alps and the Jura. Here, and in the Vosges to the north, many of the rivers of the Rhone-Saone system have their sources, among them the Durance, the Drome and the Doubs. It is a land of hardy mountain folk in many districts, often living in isolated towns and villages and speaking dialects of Provencal in the south, a language in eclipse in the seventeenth century, but certainly more widely spoken than is the case today. Those from Provence, as a contemporary pointed out, did not consider themselves Frenchmen.

…The synodal province of Dauphiné, which formed the prolongation of the great arc of Calvinism from Poitou to Languedoc, had close links with Geneva. The reformed faith was firmly established in Dauphiné and Calvinists were in a majority in many rural communities and were influential in the life of a number of towns, among them Montelimar and Die. Some 85 000 members of the reformed church lived in its eight colloquies, worshipping in more than seventy temples, of which several lay in Alpine territory now forming part of Italy: those of the six churches of the Valcluson colloquy, including Pragela (Pragelato), and Chateau-Dauphin (Casteldelfino) in the Embrunais colloquy. The churches of the Orange principality were also included in the Dauphiné synodal province.

...It will be seen therefore that Calvinism was a relatively powerful religious influence in south-eastern France, especially in Dauphiné and along the Swiss border. Its strength was, however, largely confined to rural areas of small total population and one or two of the smaller towns. Some 12% of all French Protestants lived in this part of the country.

.• M. Boucher.M (1981). French speakers at the Cape: The European Background. Pretoria, UNISA: Ch 7: Cape Settlers III: from South-Eastern France and Adjoining Territories pp169-72

Countries of Dispersal

South Africa

• Daniël Bouvat from Die, Dauphiné. Returned to Europe after 1708.
• Marié Couteau (1659-1718) from Dauphiné
• Jean Durand (1666-1727) from La Motte Chalançon, Dauphiné
• Louis Fourie (1669-1750), perhaps from Pointaix, Dauphiné
• Jean Gardé (died 1704) from Dauphiné
• Antoine Gros from Soubeyran, Dauphiné
• Pierre Lombaard (1658-1717) from Dauphiné
• Pierre Meyer (1668-1745) from Vaudois Dauphiné
• Etienne Nel (1699 -) VOC soldier from Dauphiné
• Pierre Rochefort from Grenoble, Dauphiné (died after 1708)
• Pierre Simond (born 1651) from Nyons Dauphiné. Huguenot minister, returned to Europe in 1702
• Estienne Viret (1662-1726) from Pontaix, Dauphiné

North America

Britain

Ireland

References & Resources

• List of Huguenots embarking from France
• Huguenot Heritage Society of SA
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauphin%C3%A9#From_Louis_XIV_to_the_F...

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• French Huguenot Provinces of Origin Project Index
• Huguenot World Diaspora