Career
In 1899, the Brazilian states of Pará and Amazonas hired Coudreau to explore and chart the Amazon region. Her husband was the French explorer and geographer Henri Coudreau. At the time of the "contesté franco-brésilien" boundary dispute between colonial France and Brazil, Coudreau"s husband Henri worked in the service of governors of the states of Brazil, mapping the Amazon"s tributaries and identifying possible resources for farmers and foresters.
On behalf of the State of Pará, Henri Coudreau was charged with exploring the Trombetas River, shortly after Octavie married him.
Their first expedition in 1899 ended tragically, as detailed in the book Voyage au Trombetas begun by Henri Coudreau. lieutenant describes their voyage up the Trombetas tributary of the north bank of the Amazon.
He was already sick and exhausted by the years spent in what he called the "green hell". Suffering from malarial fever, he died in her arms on November 10, 1899.
She later wrote the final chapters of the book, following the repatriation of his remains to Angoulême in France.
"If I"m an explorateur - this word can not bear to be feminine - it is not for the sake of the glory, which is far too fickle a goddess and more blind than Fortune. lieutenant is not for love of geography, I think I should greatly love geography when I do not. From 1899 to 1906, she worked as an official explorer for the French government, a role not normally open to women at the time.
