Jacques-Marie Le Père
Jacques-Marie Le Père (born April 25, 1763 in Paris , † June 15, 1841 in Granville ) was a French engineer in what was then the Corps impérial des ponts et chaussées ( Imperial Corps of Bridge and Road Engineers ).
Life
He took part in Napoléon's Egyptian expedition in 1798/99 with his brother Gratien Le Père and a total of 157 members of the Commission des sciences et des arts in order to explore Egypt in general and in particular the possibility of exploring the Mediterranean via the Nile Delta and a canal to join the Red Sea .
When Napoléon decided to ride to Suez on December 24, 1798, some of his generals and soldiers as well as scientists and engineers, including Jacques-Marie Le Père and his brother Gratien, were part of the little caravan. Shortly after arriving in Suez, Napoléon found the remains of the canal built by the pharaohs and ordered these traces to be followed as part of the survey of the isthmus. Jacques-Marie Le Père therefore undertook three campaigns with his brother and other engineers under difficult conditions to map and survey the Isthmus of Suez and the Wadi Tumilat . The work took place in January / February 1799 and in September and November / December 1799. As a result, it was determined that a canal from the Red Sea over the Nile to Alexandria was possible, but that the water level of the Red Sea was about 10 m higher than that of the Mediterranean - an error that was not finally cleared up until 1847.
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 Jacques-Marie Le Père's report on mapping and surveying are reproduced.
The names of the brothers in the report seem misleading today. Jacques-Marie Le Père is referred to as Inspecteur divisionnaire des Ponts et Chaussées, Membre de l'Institut d'Égypte , while his brother Gratien is referred to as Ingénieur en chef des ponts et chaussées . From Jacques-Marie Le Père's report to Napoléon, however, it becomes clear that Jacques-Marie Le Père was not only the older brother, but also the head of the surveying campaigns, who is believed to be wrong about the difference in altitude.
After his return from Egypt he worked for a long time as an inspector divisionnaire in the bridge and road construction administration, then from 1822 to 1830 as an inspector in the administration of Paris.
Works
- 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. 2nd edition, Volume 11 Tome Onzième, Etat Moderne, Paris 1822, pp. 37–369 ( full text in the Google book search)
- Mémoire sur la vallée du Nil et le nilomètre de l'île de Roudah , in Description de l'Égypte , 2nd edition, volume 18.1 Tome Dix-Huitième, Etat Moderne, Paris, 1826, pp. 555–615 ( full text in the Google Book Search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Images of the cards 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)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Le Père, Jacques-Marie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Le Père aîné |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 25, 1763 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 15, 1841 |
| Place of death | Granville |