Category:Melchisédech Thévenot

Melchisédech Thévenot (1620–1692)
Alternative names	Melchisédec Thévenot
Description	French cartographer, author, scientist and diplomat
Date of birth/death	1620s	1692
Location of birth/death		Issy-les-Moulineaux
Authority control	VIAF: 64111825 LCCN: n50014413 GND: 117624519 BnF: cb12512128n ISNI: 0000 0001 1028 2804 WorldCat WP-Person

Melchisédech (or Melchisédec) Thévenot (c. 1620–1692) was a French author, scientist, traveler, cartographer, orientalist, inventor, and diplomat. He was the inventor of the spirit level and is also famous for his popular 1696 book The Art of Swimming, one of the first books on the subject and widely read during the 18th century (Benjamin Franklin, an avid swimmer in his youth, is known to have read it). The book popularized the breaststroke (see History of swimming). He also influenced the founding of the Académie Royale des Sciences (the French Academy of Sciences).