commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Nièvre
Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Industrial history
Imphy is known in particular for its steel-works, renowned for their special steels which were useful in particular for the north foot of the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "'' ...
in 1889.Aperam Alloys Imphy on the web site imphy.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
The
Société de Commentry, Fourchambault et Decazeville
The Société de Commentry, Fourchambault et Decazeville was an integrated coal, iron and steel company in France.
Background
In 1817 Jean-Georges Dufaud Père, director of the Grossouvre foundry in Cher (department), Cher, visited Wales on a com ...
was formed in 1853 through a merger of the Fourchambault foundry, Imphy steelworks,
Montluçon
Montluçon (; oc, Montleçon ) is a commune in central France on the river Cher. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as ...
(Allier) foundry and
Commentry
Commentry (; Auvergnat: ''Comentriac'') is a commune in the department of Allier in central France. It lies southwest of Moulins in the valley of the Œil. It is within 8 km of one of the geographic centres of France. The film actress Y ...
(Allier) colliery.
The Imphy steelworks was detached from the company and combined with the Saint-Seurin steelworks.
They were adapted to use the
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities from the iron by ox ...
.
In 1869 the two steelworks were reunited with the company.
In 1954 the company was renamed the Société métallurgique d'Imphy.
In 1968 it was merged with the Société des forges et aciéries du Creusot, which in 1971 became
Creusot-Loire
Creusot-Loire was a French engineering conglomerate, formed from factories in Le Creusot and Châteauneuf, Loire. The Creusot-Loire subsidiary of ArcelorMittal also includes an Innovation, Research and Development centre for the group.
History
The ...
.
The combined company was in turn absorbed by Creusot-Loire (Saône-et-Loire) in 1971.
The Creusot-Loire group was liquidated in December 1984.
Demographics
The fall in population since the 1990s is attributed to a decline in industrial activities in the area. At one time the factories of Imphy employed up to 3,000 workers. Today, they (ArcelorMittal and Aubert&Duval) employ only about 1,000 workers.
Notable personalities
*
Hubert Bourdot
Hubert Bourdot (30 October 1861 – 30 September 1937) was a French Roman Catholic priest and mycologist who was a native of Imphy, a community in the department of Nièvre.
From 1898 until his death, Bourdot was a parish priest in Saint-Priest- ...
(Imphy, 30 October 1861 – 30 September 1937) was a French Roman Catholic priest and
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...
* Charles Cliquet (Imphy, 21 January 1891 - Paris, 27 March 1956), member of
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, Compagnon de la Libération
* Stéphane Faye (Imphy, 10 May 1867 - Saint-Avé, 15 November 1947), writer
Imphy in the cinema
In
Luc Moullet
Luc Moullet (; born 14 October 1937 in Paris) is a French film critic and filmmaker, and a member of the Nouvelle Vague or French New Wave. Moullet's films are known for their humor, anti-authoritarian leanings and rigorously primitive aesthetic, ...
's short film, ''Imphy capitale de la France'' (1995), Moullet proposed making the town of Imphy the new capital of France, being ideally situated at the geographic centre of France.