Guillaume Henri Dufour
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Guillaume Henri Dufour (French pronunciation:
Early life
Dufour was born on 15 September 1787 in
Career
In 1811, Dufour joined the French Army and was sent to help defend
In 1827 he was raised to the rank of colonel, and commanded the Federal army in a series of field manoeuvres. In 1831 he became chief of the staff, and soon afterwards he was appointed quartermaster-general. Two years later the
In 1847 the Catholic cantons of Switzerland attempted to form a separate alliance of their own, known as the
In addition to serving in the position of General in 1847 due to the Sonderbund War,[2] the Federal Assembly appointed him to the same position in August 1849 due to the Baden Revolution,[7][8] on 27 December 1856 due to the Neuchâtel Crisis,[9] and in 1859 due to the Second Italian War of Independence.[10]
In 1850 the mountaineer and topographer Johann Coaz served as his private secretary.[11]
In 1863 he was part of a committee with
On 16 July 1875, 60,000 persons participated at Dufour's burial at Cimetière de Plainpalais in Geneva.
Saint Antoine Bridge
Dufour acted as state engineer from 1817, although he was not officially appointed as such until 1828. His work included rebuilding a pumping station, quays and bridges, and he arranged the first steam boat on Lake Geneva as well as the introduction of gas streetlights.[1]
The scientist Marc-Auguste Pictet had visited Marc Seguin's temporary wire-cable simple suspension bridge at Annonay in 1822, the first wire-cable bridge in the world, and published details in Switzerland. He joined with others to promote a new bridge across the Genevan fortifications, consulting with Seguin on how it might be built, receiving back a series of sketches. Dufour developed the design in late 1822, proposing a two-span suspension bridge using wire cables — this would become the first permanent wire cable suspension bridge in the world. The design used three cables on each side of an iron and timber bridge deck.[1] The cables stretched 131 feet between the towers, although the largest span was only 109 feet.[12]
Memorials
Memorials are at:
- Equestrian statue (1884) by Alfred Lanz, at Place de Neuve, Geneva, erected by public subscription[3]
- Two plaques on his birth house at Wessenbergstraße 14 (formerly Plattengasse), Konstanz, Germany[13]
- Plaque at the building where he lived from 1826 to 1845 at Geneva[14]
- Plaque at Château de Montrottier in Lovagny, France[15]
- Plaque at 22, rue Saint-Victor, Carouge, commemorating its use as office of topography.[16]
- Bronze bust, made by Fonderie Leuba, B. Brasseur, succ. at Army Training Center, Lucerne
His home from 1845–1875 at Rue de Contamines, Geneva, is preserved by a foundation.[17][18]
Numerous cities and towns in Switzerland have streets named for him: rue du Général-Dufour in Geneva, La Chaux-de-Fonds; via Gen. Henri Dufour in Chiasso; rue du Général- Dufour/General-Dufour-Strasse in Biel/Bienne; Dufourstrasse in
The general was depicted on the 20 francs note of the 1956 series of Swiss banknotes (in circulation 1956–1980).[19]
The
References
- ^ ISBN 3-7643-1929-1
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jean-Jacques Langendorf: Guillaume Henri Dufour in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 20 April 2006.
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dufour, Wilhelm Heinrich". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 646. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ "Souvenir de la campagne du Sonderbund en 1847: par un officier vaudois". e-periodica.ch (in French). Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ "La campagne de 1847 dans le canton de Fribourg [suite et fin]" (PDF). salons-dufour.ch (in French). Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ "ETH - e-periodica". www.e-periodica.ch. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ Hans Senn: Aktivdienst in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ Rapport sur l'armement et la campagne de 1857. Revue militaire Suisse 1857
- ^ Toast à la Patrie. Revue militaire Suisse 1860
- ISBN 9781849655262. Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ Drewry, Charles Stewart, "A Memoir of Suspension Bridges", 1832, online at [1]
- ^ One reads: "Zum Falke: Geburstshaus des berühmten Schweizer Generals Wilhelm Heinrich Dufour (1787–1875). Ermals erwähnt 1428, Im 16. Jh. umgebaut", the other: "Geburtsstätte des Eidgenöss. General Wilh. Heinr. Dufour Geb. den 15. Sept 1787 Gest. in Contamines bei Genf den 14. Juli 1873"
- ^ It includes the text "G.H. Dufour vécut ici de 1826 à 1845"
- ^ The plaque reads "Le château de Montrottier a appartenu à la famille de Guillaume Henri Dufour (15.09.1787-14.07.1875) Capitain du génie sous le 1er Empire, Général pacificateur de la Suisse durant la guerre civile du Sonderbund, cartographe, mathématicien, ingénieur cantonal, cofondateur et 1er Présiduent du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge. Sa famille est copropriétaire du château de Montrottier entre 1799 et 1821 puis unique propriétaire jusqu'à sa vente en 1839 au Baron Jules de Rochette. Plaque apposée à l'initiative de "l'Académie flormontane" et "Les Salons du Général Dufour" Le 30 juin 2012"
- ^ Plaque reads: "En 1838 dans cet immeuble G.H. Dufour Quartier-Maitre Général installa le premier bureau topographique fédéral"
- ^ Fondation pour la conservation de la Maison du Général Guillaume Henri Dufour
- ^ "Cercle Dufour". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.
- ^ "Fifth banknote series (1956)". Swiss National Bank. Retrieved 30 April 2019.