born 0441; 1500, Carcassonne, France
died 1560/61, Paris
French colonizer in Canada.
He was a member of the court of Francis I . Appointed lieutenant general of the North American territory discovered earlier by Jacques Cartier , he was sent to colonize the region. In 1542 he reached Cartier's former headquarters at Cap Rouge, near present-day Quebec. Cartier was to have served as his guide, but he had left in 1541. The settlement was short-lived, breaking up in 1543 after a harsh winter. Mineral wealth that Roberval brought back turned out to be fool's gold and mica.