Biography

 

Louis Léger Vauthier was born in Bergerac on April 6, 1815. His father was an engineer of the Ponts, Pierre Vauthier (1784-1847, designer of the La Linde canal and inventor of the formula of permanent water movement.)

After a schooling in Limoges, in 1834 he entered Polytechnique, then the Ponts in 1836.He emerged 4th in his class.

From 1838 to 1840, he was trainee-engineer in the Morbihan Seaports Department, worked on Pont d’Hennebont and, with Frécot, produced the plans for the Arzon Lighthouse.

In 1840, the President of Pernambouc Province, seeking a young engineer to manage work in Brazil, asked the Minister to find the ideal man. Louis Léger Vauthier was the one chosen, and in July 1840 sets sail for Brazil with another “engineer”, Victor Boulitreau (who, according to his obituary, had studied at the Arts et Métiers, but we have found no evidence).Arriving in September 1840, he would remain until November 1846. There he managed construction work on numerous roads serving the “engenhos” (sugar plantations), built at least 3 bridges, including probably South America’s first modern suspension bridge.He also built a number of houses (neoclassical architecture), including that of the provincial  President.He developed waste collection, created sidewalks and ordered the planting of trees along roads.In the “sitios” (rural houses), he encouraged the establishment of steam machines, in particular for “cachaça” (sugarcane distillation).Finally, he is also known for disseminating the works of Fourier, Considérant and Cantagrel, Le Phalange et Peaceful Democracy.He is also believed to have been one of the founders of the political journal “O Progresso”, with Figueiredo.

On his return to France, he was seconded to the Cher region.In 1849, he stood in the legislative elections with the Socialist Democratic Republicans, and was elected.On June 13, 1849, he signed Ledru-Rollin’s appeal and was arrested at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.In November, he was condemned by the Versailles High Court of Justice to deportation and 3 to 5 Years in prison.He was immediately taken to Belle-Île, where he remained until 1852. In September 1854, he was pardoned but obliged to go into exile.

In 1856, we find him in Spain, on the Ebre canal.In 1857, he joined the French Society of Civil Engineers.After 1858, he was clearly in Valais, where in 1860 he emerges as chief engineer on the line from Italy via the Simplon pass, resigning in 1861.

We next find him in 1870, as battalion chief in the National Guard. In 1871, he was elected a municipal councillor in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, the Goutte d’Or district, a position he held until 1887. He was also general councillor of the Seine in the same period.He spoke frequently at the Paris Municipal Council and in the General Council of the Seine, but could not become chairman, because he was deaf.

He died in Beauchamps (Val d’Oise) in 1901, and was cremated at Père-Lachaise and buried with his family in Montmartre.

In 1845, he had married Elisa Joubert (died 1877), niece of the moralist. They had a son who was a painter, some of whose pictures hang in the wedding rooms of the town halls of Bagnolet, Thiais, Clichy and Vanves, and in Musée d’Orsay.

 

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