Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux () (8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French naval officer, explorer and colonial governor. He is perhaps best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792, while searching for the La Pérouse expedition. Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux is commonly referred to simply as Bruni d'Entrecasteaux or Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, each of which is a compound surname (derived from his father's surname, Bruni or Bruny, and the family's origins in Entrecasteaux). Early career Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was born to Dorothée de Lestang-Parade and Jean Baptiste Bruny, at Aix-en-Provence in 1739. His father was a member of the Parlement of Provence. Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was educated at a Jesuit school and reportedly intended to become a priest in the Society of Jesus, but his father intervened and enlisted him in the French Navy in 1754. In the action that secured the Balearic Islands for Spain (and resulted in the execution of Admiral Byng), Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a midshipman aboard the 26-gun Minerve, and in April 1757 he was commissioned as an ensign. His further naval career as a junior officer was uneventful, and he appears in this period to have done general service in the French Navy. For a time Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was Assistant Director of ports and arsenals, after which (1785) he was transferred to command a French Squadron in the East Indies, comprising Résolution and Subtile. During this service he opened up a new route to Canton by way of the Sunda Strait and the Moluccas, for use during the south-east monsoon season. In 1787 he was appointed Governor of the French colony of Isle de France (now Mauritius) and the Isle of Bourbon. His explorations In September 1791, the French Assembly decided to send an expedition in search of Jean-François de La Pérouse, who had not been heard of since leaving Botany Bay in March 1788. Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was selected to command this expedition. He was given a frigate, (500 tons), with Lieutenant Jean-Louis d'Hesmity-d'Auribeau as his second-in-command and Élisabeth Rossel among the other officers. A similar ship, , was placed under Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec, with de Trobriand as his second-in-command. A distinguished hydrographical engineer, Beautemps-Beaupré, served as the hydrographer of the expedition. When the expedition left Brest on 28 September 1791, Entrecasteaux was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. The plan of the voyage was to proceed to