Gratien Le Père
Gratien Le Père (born June 2, 1769 in Versailles , † August 1, 1826 in Poitiers ) was a senior engineer in what was then the Corps des ingénieurs des ponts et chaussées .
He was a classmate of Napoleon at the École royale militaire in Brienne-le-Château and took part in Napoleon's Egyptian expedition to Egypt with his older brother Jacques-Marie Le Père and a total of 157 members of the Commission des sciences et des arts in 1798/99 in general, and in particular, the opportunity to explore the Mediterranean via the Nile Delta and a canal to connect with the Red Sea .
He and his brother and other engineers carried out a survey and mapping of the Isthmus of Suez under difficult conditions , as a result of which it was determined that the water level of the Red Sea was about 9 m higher than that of the Mediterranean - an error that was not made until 1847 was finally cleared up.
The members of the commission drew up the Description de l'Égypte , a multi-volume report on their investigations, in which, among other things, the maps of the Nile Delta and the survey results are reproduced.
In a list of engineers at this plant, Gratien Le Père is listed as Ingénieur en chef des ponts et chaussées . In the title page of Mémoire sur la ville d'Alexandrie he is referred to as Ingénieur en chef au Corps Royal des Ponts et Chaussées , while his brother is referred to as the author of Mémoire sur La Vallée du Nil on the title page as: M. Le Père aîné, Inspecteur divisionnaire des Ponts et Chaussées, Membre de l'Institut d'Égypte .
Gratien Le Père (written separately, contrary to the usual spelling in the literature) should not be confused with Jean-Baptiste Lepère (written together), who also took part in the Egyptian expedition, but as an architect had nothing to do with surveying and mapping.
Reviews for Description de l'Égypte
- Mémoire sur la partie occidentale de la Province de Bahyreh , État Moderne I, Vol. 6, pp. 7-20; on descegy.bibalex.org
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Mémoire sur la ville d'Alexandrie , Etat Moderne II (2nd part), vol. 6, p. 169 ff; on descegy.bibalex.org
- ditto , 2nd edition, Volume 18, pp. 383-496; ( Full text in google book search)
- Observations sur le profil de nivellement de la vallée du Nil, entre le Meqyas de Roudah et la grande pyramide de Gyzeh , Etat Moderne II (2nd part), vol. 6, pp. 325-332; on descegy.bibalex.org
- Mémoire sur les lacs maritimes de l'Égypte , 1815, only 100 copies distributed to the Bibliothèque du Roi and other libraries (see ditto , footnote on p. 496).
Individual evidence
- ^ Maps of Egypt on description-egypte.org
- ^ Jacques-Marie Le Père: Mémoire sur la communication de la mer des Indes à la Méditerranée par la mer Rouge et l'Isthme de Sueys. In: Description de l'Égypte. Volume 11, Paris 1822, pp. 37-369; therein: Extrait du Journal historique et géologique du Nivellement de l'Isthme de Soueys, par le Canal des deux mers. P. 318–351, with: Résultat de la Différence de level des deux Mers: 9.908 mètres Mer Rouge supérieure à la Méditerranée , p. 336 ( full text in the Google book search)
- ^ Title page, p. 383 and p. 555 of the 18th volume
- ↑ Excerpts in Description del l'Égypte , Volume 16, État Moderne, Paris 1825, pp. 199–227 ( digitized on Google Books)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Le Père, Gratien |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | chief engineer of the then forerunner of the French École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 2, 1769 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Versailles |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1, 1826 |
| Place of death | Poitiers |