Le comte de Rambuteau,d'après Court, 1838 MMCR

Claude-Philibert Barthelot, comte de Rambuteau () (

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M� ...

, 9 November 1781 – Château de Rambuteau, 11 April 1869) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

senior official of the first half of the 19th century. He was

Préfet A prefect (french: préfet, plural ''préfets'') in France is the state's representative in a department or region. Subprefects (French: ''sous-préfets'') are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, known as arrondissements. The offic ...

of the former Départment of the Seine, which included Paris, from 1833 to 1848. He established the groundwork for the fundamental transformation of Paris that

Haussmann Hausmann is a German word with former meanings "householder" and "freeholder" and current meaning "house-husband." Hausmann (Hausman), Haussmann (Haussman), Haußmann, Hauszmann, etc. are German-origin surnames that may refer to: Hausmann * C ...

carried out under the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

Career

His administration was marked by the implementation of the theories of the hygienists. One year before his nomination, an epidemic of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

devastated Paris. Rambuteau thought that the narrow, tortuous streets and small disease-prone districts in the centre of Paris encouraged the development of the disease. He commenced the cutting of 13 metre-wide roads through Paris with the widening of the

Rue Rambuteau The Rue Rambuteau is a street in Paris, France, named after the Count de Rambuteau who started the widening of the road prior to Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The philosopher Henri Lefebvre lived on the street and observed from his window the ...

in 1839, which was later named after him. This was the first time wide roads had been built in central Paris. Under his administration, the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

in the

Place de l'Étoile Place Charles de Gaulle (), historically known as the Place de l'Étoile (), is a large road junction in Paris, France, the meeting point of twelve straight avenues (hence its historic name, which translates as "Square of the Star") including t ...

was finished and the building of the great avenue of the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...

was commenced. The motto of Rambuteau was: "water, air, shade". He thus modernised the sewers of Paris and ordered the construction of many fountains. Some of his fountains in Paris parks still function. He developed gas lighting and the planting of trees along the avenues. At the beginning of his administration the city had 69 gas jets; at his departure it had 8,600 gas jets. He also commenced the construction of the famous

pissoir A (also known in French as a ) is a French invention, common in Europe, that provides a urinal in public space with a lightweight structure. The availability of aims to reduce urination onto buildings, sidewalks, or streets. They can be fre ...

s (public urinals) along the roads of Paris. In spite of the enactment of the ''law of expropriation in the public interest'' in 1841, Rambuteau did not have the means or the ambition to implement the work that Haussmann later carried out, but he showed the way forward.

Personal life

He married at

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

on 7 March 1808 Marie Adélaide Charlotte de Narbonne-Lara ( Belleville, 11 May 1790 - Champgrenon, 31 May 1856), second daughter of

Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara (August 1755 - 17 November 1813) was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat. Birth and early life He was born at Colorno, in the Duchy of Parma. His mother was Françoise de Chalus ( bap. ...

and Marie Adélaïde de Montholon, and had two daughters:Rambuteau
@ GeneAll * Amable Françoise Barthelot de Rambuteau, married in Paris on 16 July 1835 Jean Jacques Louis Lombard de Buffières (

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, 15 July 1800 - Lyon, 26 July 1875), son of Claude,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Lombard de Buffières, and Monique Rast de Maupas, and had four sons, who used the name Lombard de Buffières de Rambuteau * Marie Louise Barthelot de Rambuteau (1812 - 7 September 1880), married Théodore Gilles Louis Alphonse de Rocca (17 April 1812 - 12 November 1842), without issue. De Rocca was the son of

Madame de Staël Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

and

Albert de Rocca Albert Jean Michel de Rocca (1788 – 31 January 1818) was a French lieutenant during the Napoleonic Wars. He was also the second husband of Anne Louise Germaine de Staël. Biography De Rocca was born in Geneva, Republic of Geneva, in 1788. He s ...

References

Sources

* Domingos de Araújo Afonso et alii, ''Le Sang de Louis XIV'' (Braga, 1961), Tome I, p. 276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rambuteau, Claude-Philibert Barthelot, comte de 1781 births 1869 deaths Counts of France 19th century in Paris 19th-century French people