Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais was born in in Saint-Malo, Brittany, France on the 11th February 1699 (died on 10th November 1753 in Paris). He went to the seas as a boy of 10 years. He went into service of the French East India Company then in to Portuguese Viceroy of Goa, then couple of years after that he was appointed as the governor of Île de France (now known as Mauritius) and of Île de Bourbon (now known as Réunion).
During the first five years, he made the two islands self sufficient, making Île de Bourbon a place for agriculture, and Île de France a commercial centre and a naval base of strategic importance. He completely transformed Port Louis by introducing a port and constructed a shipyard and many buildings. Today, you can see a status of him in Port Louis, he also has a town in Mauritius named after him (Mahébourg), and a hotel in Port Louis called the 'Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel'. Manioc was introduced to Île de France as a food that was easy to grow and was said to strength giving to the labour force on the islands.
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