Foucauld, Charles Eugène, Vicomte de (1858-1916)

French explorer, monk, and hermit, born in Strasbourg, France. At one time a soldier, he later became a Cistercian monk. In 1883-84 he travelled through the first and middle ranges of the Sahara desert and, in disguise, made three journeys over the Atlas Mountains. He lived as a hermit in Algeria, first at Beni Abbes and then at Tamanrasset where he was murdered in 1916.

He was held in very high esteem by the Tuareg of the Ahaggar plateau, who after his death considered him a saint and martyr. He compiled, amongst other works, a Tamashek dictionary, and made a collection of Tuareg poems and proverbs.