Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce, Baron Lahontan

Lahontan, Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce, Baron

Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce Lahontan, baron, officer, author (b at Lahontan, France 9 Jun 1666; d at Hanover 21 Apr 1716). During Lahontan's 10 years in New France (1683-93), he fought the Iroquois, explored the Mississippi and helped defend Québec in 1690 and Newfoundland in 1693 against English attacks. Lahontan's fame rests on the 1703 publication of his colourful travels and memoirs (Nouveaux voyages dans l'Amérique septentrionale; mémoires de l'Amérique septentrionale) and on a supplementary volume of imaginary dialogues with an Indian chief that contributed to the vogue of the "noble savage." The 3 volumes, retouched in 1705 by an unfrocked Benedictine monk, Nicholas Gueudeville, were frequently republished and translated for European readers during the 18th century.