Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de Kerdu

Pierre-Marie-Louis de Boisgelin de Kerdu (5 May 1758 – 9 September 1816) was a French nobleman known for his works as a member of the Knights of Malta and later as an officer of the émigré unit, Régiment Royal Louis.

Biography

Pierre-Marie-Louis Kerdu was born on 5 May 1758 at the Château of Ville-Balin in Plélo, Brittany to Claude Jean Marie, Comte de Boisgelin and Jeanne Ammanuelle du Hallay de la Borderie. Pierre studied at the Saint-Sulpice seminary and later presented to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem on 8 August 1782. In 1784 he was commissioned into the French Royal Army as a Sous-lieutenant in the Régiment du Roi (King's Regiment), where he developed a close friendship with the Comte de Plies, Duc de Fortia.

The two became so close they began using the pseudonym of 'Caillot-Duval' for their letters.

In 1788, Pierre was promoted to Lieutenant, but left France that year to travel Central Europe and Russia. In 1793, following the French Revolution, Pierre abandoned the Knights, but remained in Malta.

In London, Pierre published his best known book, Ancient and Modern Malta, containing a description of the ports of the islands of Malta and Gozo in 1804. In 1809, he published a further three-volume article on the Knights, entitled "Ancient and Modern Malta, containing the description of the island... the history of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem until the year 1800 and the account of the events which accompanied the entry of the French into Malta and its conquest by the English".