Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay (2 May 1828 – 24 October 1915) was a
French traveller and
archaeologist notable both for his explorations of
Mexico and
Central America, and for the pioneering use of
photography to document his discoveries. He was born in
Fleurie, and studied at the
Lycée Charlemagne. In 1850, he became a teacher in
New Orleans, Louisiana, and there became acquainted with
John Lloyd Stephens's books of travel in
Yucatan. He travelled in Mexico, under a commission from the French ministry of education, in 1857-1861; in
Madagascar in 1863; in
South America, particularly
Chile and
Argentina, in 1875; and in
Java and
Australia in 1878. In 1880-1883, he again visited the ruined cities of Mexico.
Pierre Lorillard IV of
New York City contributed to defray the expense of this expedition, and Charnay named a great ruined city near the
Guatemalan boundary line "Ville Lorillard" in his honor; the name did not stick and the site is more commonly known as
Yaxchilan. Charnay went to Yucatan in 1886.