caption death_date birth_place nationality birth_date known_for image article_title name occupation
félix dubois in timbuktu in 1907 1 june 1945 dresden , saxony french 16 september 1862 '' timbuctoo : the mysterious '' file : felix dubois in timbuktu.png félix dubois
 albert félix dubois journalist , explorer
félix dubois

albert félix dubois -lrb- 16 september 1862 -- 1 june 1945 -rrb- was a french journalist , explorer and speculator who is best known for his books about his travels in french west africa .
dubois was the son of a well-known chef who had written a number of popular cookery books .
he began his career as the european correspondent in berlin and vienna for several french newspapers .
in 1890 he went to guinea to report on an exploratory expedition .
he later wrote reports on palestine and on anarchism .
in 1894 he was one of the reporters sent to the newly occupied city of timbuktu .
his experiences were described in a popular book in 1896 .
he was sent to report on another expedition in west africa in 1897 , but left in disgust due to the brutality of the commander , who was killed shortly after .
in 1898 dubois conceived the idea of launching the first general freight company to use trucks , avoiding the need for porters in the french sudan and also turning a profit .
the venture ran into many difficulties and collapsed in 1900 .
dubois spent several years in paris before embarking on another expedition in 1907 , this time crossing the sahara from north to south .
he found relics of ancient civilizations in the hoggar mountains of southern algeria , but was unable to take the time to explore them properly .
after marrying an heiress with whom he had five children , he embarked on unsuccessful business ventures in siberia , the altai and alberta , canada .
he wrote several books about his travels .
