Philippe Avril (September 16, 1654 - c. 1698) was a French Jesuit missionary and an explorer. Born in Angoulême, France, his early life and education is not known. When the Jesuit order sent him to China he had been serving in Paris as a professor of philosophy and mathematics. Verbiest, already posted to China, had sent instructions for Avril to follow a land route to join him. This resulted in a six-year journey along the Silk Road: he passed through Armenia (in 1685) then Astrakhan, Kurdistan, and Persia on his odyssey. His travels took him to Moscow, and then a detour: he was refused passage through Tatary, and was sent by Russia to Poland. He attempted China again, but his ship was lost at sea in 1698, and he never reached China.
