Julien-Désiré Schmaltz

Who was Julien-Désiré Schmaltz?

Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz or Julien Schmaltz was a French colonial administrator and governor of Senegal from 1816 to 1820.

On 17 June 1816, Schmaltz departed for Saint-Louis, Senegal aboard the frigate Méduse to take up his position as Governor of Senegal, which would be handed over by the British on their arrival, under the command of Thomas Brereton. The ship ran aground on sand banks 50 kilometres from the Senegalese shore, partly because of Schmaltz's impatience and partly because of the incompetence of the captain and navigator. The tragedy that ensued after it was decided to set 146 of the 400 passengers on a hastily built raft was immortalized in Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa. Schmaltz made it ashore in a lifeboat.

On 8 May 1819 Schmaltz signed the Treaty of Ndiaw with the Brak of Waalo, which resulted in the creation of a series of commercial posts along the Sénégal River. This resulted in some conflict with local chieftains.

He initiated a far-reaching project of agricultural colonization in the region of Waalo, which gradually failed after he left office and was abandoned in 1831.