René Caillié was a French explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu, a city in Mali, Africa, in 1828. Born in 1799, he traveled throughout Africa, where he recorded his experiences in journals and maps. Caillié's journals provided valuable information about the geography and culture of West Africa, and his account of his journey to Timbuktu was widely read. Caillié died in 1838 in Marseille, France.
