(1753 – 1824) François Levaillant or Le Vaillant was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, and noted ornithologist. The record of his travels through Southern Africa document some of the earliest European-style performances.

Born in Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana (Surinam), the son of the French consul. When his father returned to Europe, in 1763, he studied natural history at Metz. He was sent by the Dutch East India Company to the Cape Province of South Africa in 1781, and collected specimens there until 1784. He made three journeys, one around Cape Town and Saldanha Bay, one eastwards from the Cape and the third north of the Orange River and into Great Namaqualand.[1]

On his return he published Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique (1790, 2 vols.), and Second voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique (1796, 3 vols.), both of which were translated into several languages. He also published Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique (1796–1808, 6 vols.) , Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis (1801–06), Histoire naturelle des cotingas et des todiers (1804) and Histoire naturelle des calaos (1804).