Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Orélie-Antoine de Tounens

King of Araucania and Patagonia

Date of Birth: 12-May-1825

Place of Birth: Chourgnac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Date of Death: 17-Sep-1878

Profession: lawyer, avoué, adventurer

Nationality: France

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Orélie-Antoine de Tounens (born Antoine Tounens) (12 May 1825 – 17 September 1878) was a French lawyer and adventurer who proclaimed by a decree on 17 November 1860 that Araucanía and Patagonia did not depend of any other states and that a Kingdom of Araucanía was founded with himself as King under the name Orélie-Antoine I.
It is disputed whether Tounens was a self-proclaimed king or was elected by some loncos (Mapuche chiefs).
Arrested on 5 January 1862 by the Chilean authorities, Antoine de Tounens was imprisoned and declared insane on 2 September 1862 by the court of Santiago and expelled to France on 28 October 1862.
Later he tried three times to come back to Araucanía to regain his "kingdom", but without success, and died in misery on 17 September 1878 in Tourtoirac, France.