Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Niel, Frédéric Guillaume Amédée Ferdinand

NIEL, Frédéric Guillaume Amédée Ferdinand (neel), West Indian geographer, b. near Saint Pierre, Martinique, in 1729; d. in Versailles in 1791. He entered the colonial administration and held several offices. In 1761 he undertook a survey of Martinique, and he was afterward sent on several missions to Santo Domingo, Guadeloupe, and South America. He was appointed in 1782 assistant librarian of the city of Versailles, but resigned in 1790, and, returning to Martinique, was chosen delegate to the constituent assembly. He was one of the founders in Paris of the club “Les amis des noirs,” and, although opposed to a general emancipation of the slaves, advocated a policy of gradual enfranchisement, and published several pamphlets in support of his ideas. Among his works are “Description de la côte orientale de l'île de la Martinique” (Paris, 1763); “Atlas pour servir aux marins qui prennent le débouquement de Saint Domingue” (1770); “Le flux et le reflux de la mer sur les côtes de l'île Sainte Catherine” (1772); “Atlas de la côte du Maranhão” (1775); “De l'esclavage aux Antilles” (1790); “La question des esclaves” (1791); “Des droits du nègres” (1791); and “L'esclave peut-il devenir un bon citoyen?” (1791).