Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu

Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu
Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu in 1903
Commander of the Navy Department
In office
16 January 1900 – 29 January 1901
MonarchChulalongkorn
Preceded byPrachak Silapakhom [th]
Succeeded byBhanurangsi Savangwongse
Personal details
Born(1852-02-24)24 February 1852
Løjt Kirkeby, Denmark
Died25 March 1932(1932-03-25) (aged 80)
Hørsholm, Denmark
Resting placeChurch of Holmen
SpouseDagmar Therese Louise Lerche
ChildrenLouis Armand • Helge • Dagmar • Agnes Ingeborg • Lilian Agenete • Louis
ProfessionNavy officer
Businessman
Military service
AllegianceDenmark
Siam
Branch/service Royal Danish Navy
Royal Siamese Navy
Rank Vice Admiral

Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu (24 February 1852 – 25 March 1932) was a Danish naval officer and businessman who became a Siamese admiral and minister of the navy. He was granted the Thai noble title Phraya Chonlayutthayothin (Thai: พระยาชลยุทธโยธินทร์).[1]

He commanded forces at the Phra Chulachomklao Fortress in the Paknam Incident of 13 July 1893,[2] that ended the Franco-Siamese crisis, and went on to become the first and only foreign-born commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy, from 16 January 1900 to 29 January 1901.[3]

In 1884, he co-established the East Asiatic Company with fellow Danish Hans Niels Andersen and would go on to operate Siam Electricity and several railway lines in both Siam and Denmark. During his time in Siam, he formed closed relationships with King Chulalongkorn and Prince Damrong.[4] He returned to Denmark in 1902, suffering from malaria.[1] He died at Kokkedal House in Hørsholm and is buried at Holmens Cemetery in Copenhagen.

Botanist Ernst Johannes Schmidt in 1901, circumscribed Richelia, which is a genus of nitrogen-fixing, filamentous, heterocystous and cyanobacteria and named in Richelieu's honour.[5]

  1. ^ a b Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu: The Admiral Who Went Ashore Archived 25 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Warington Smyth, Herbert (1898). Five Years in Siam, from 1891 to 1896: Vol 1. John Murray. p. 266. ISBN 1375627406. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  3. ^ Royal Thai Navy. นายพลเรือโท พระยาชลยุทธโยธินทร์ [Vice Admiral Phraya Cholayuthyothin] (in Thai). Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved 27 January 2022.