Jean Chardin
Explorer
This French jeweler's travel's to the Middle East became one of the best contemporary accounts of the region.
He traveled twice to what was then Persia, staying there first from 1665 to 1670, and again from 1671 to 1677.
His ten-volume account of his travels, titled Journal of the Travel of the Cavalier Chardin, became an invaluable resource for scholars of the region.
His father was also a jeweler, assuring the family a comfortable, affluent lifestyle.
Samuel de Champlain was another well-known French explorer.