Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain (20 September 1852 – 22 July 1929), was a wealthy Walloon Belgian engineer, entrepreneur, financier and industrialist, as well as an amateur

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he became a known

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Early life

Empain was born at Belœil,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and was the son of schoolteacherTHE BELGIANS OF EGYPT, 13 May 1995
at www.egy.com François Julien Empain and his wife Catherine (née Lolivier). He went into business with his brother,

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

and other family members, and amassed a great fortune. Empain began his career a draughtsman at a metallurgical company, Société métallurgique, in 1878,EMPAIN Edouard
at www.wallonie-en-ligne.net and became involved in railway construction when he noticed that transport infrastructure in the countryside was inadequate. After success in Belgium with the Liège- Jemeppe line, his companies developed several railway lines in France, including the creation of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

. Because he felt that he depended too much on the banks for his industrial plans, in 1881 he founded his own bank, Banque Empain, which later became the Belgian Industrial Bank (''"Banque Industrielle Belge"''). The

Empain group The Empain group was a loose grouping of companies founded by Édouard Empain (1852–1929) of Belgium and controlled by the Empain family. From 1881 until merging with Schneider & Cie in 1969, the companies engaged in a broad range of activities ...

of companies expanded greatly throughout the 1890s, constructing electric urban tramlines in Europe as well as railways in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, China, the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, and in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Desiring to also be independent of electricity producers, Empain also was involved in forming a number of electricity companies to power his projects.

Egypt

Édouard Empain arrived in Egypt in January 1904, intending to rescue one of the projects of his company ''S.A. des Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte''; being the construction of a railway line linking Mansourah (on the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

river) to Matariya (on the far side of

Lake Manzala Lake Manzala ( ar, بحيرة المنزلة ''baḥīrat manzala''), also Manzaleh, is a brackish lake, sometimes called a lagoon, in northeastern Egypt on the Nile Delta near Port Said and a few miles from the ancient ruins at Tanis.Dinar, p.51 ...

from Port Said).BELGIAN COMPANIES IN EGYPT*
at www.booneshares.com In 1906, Empain established the

Cairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company The Cairo Electric Railways & Heliopolis Oases Company ( ar, شركة سكك حديد مصر الكهربائية و واحات عين شمس), is the original name of the ''Heliopolis Company for Housing and Development'' ( ar, شركة مصر ...

, which bought a very large stretch of desert (25 square kilometres) to the northeast of Cairo at a low price from the Egyptian government. Commencing in 1906 this company proceeded with the building of the new town of Heliopolis, in the desert ten kilometers from the center of

. It was designed as a "city of luxury and leisure", with broad avenues and equipped with all necessary conveniences and infrastructure; water, drains, electricity, hotel facilities, such as the Heliopolis Palace Hotel (formerly the presidential palace of ex-President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

) and Heliopolis House, and recreational amenities including a golf course, racetrack and park. In addition, there was housing for rent, offered in a range of innovative design types targeting specific social classes with detached and terraced villas, apartment buildings,

tenement block A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s with balcony access and workers' bungalows. Today, Baron Empain is perhaps best known by modern visitors to Egypt for the building of a palace (the ''Palais Hindou'') in the Avenue des Palais (renamed Orouba Avenue following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952) Heliopolis, Egypt. Inspired by Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

,, the Baron Empain palace was designed by French architect

Alexandre Marcel Alexandre Marcel (11 September 1860 - 30 June 1928) was a French architect, best known for his Belle Époque interpretations of "exotic" international architectural styles. Marcel studied at the Parisian École des Beaux-Arts in the atelier of ...

(1860–1928) and decorated by Georges-Louis Claude (1879–1963), with construction being completed in 1911. In 1905, Empain assisted the Belgian government in the purchase of an

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

mastaba for the royal museum in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, of which he was a benefactor. In 1907 he received the title of Baron, and also suggested to Belgian Egyptologist

Jean Capart Jean Capart (February 21, 1877 – June 16, 1947) was a Belgian Egyptologist, director of the El-Kab excavations from 1937 to 1939 and then 1945. Publications * * * * * * Bibliography * Anne-Marie & Auguste Brasseur-Capart, ''Jean Capart ...

that he excavate at Heliopolis, where his building constructions were underway. He also made it possible for Capart to acquire some fine ancient artefacts for the Brussels Museum.

Military career

During

, he was given the rank of general and directed armaments production at Paris and

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

for the Belgian army. He died in

Woluwe The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that goes through several municipalities in the southeast and east of Brussels and is a right tributary of the Senne/Zenne (in Vilvoorde). The Kleine Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe (in Kraainem). Many ponds fo ...

, and was buried in Our Lady of Heliopolis Basilica (''Basilique Notre-Dame d'Héliopolis''). In Egypt. He was succeeded as baron by his son, Jean Empain, who married American burlesque performer Rozell Rowland (sometimes Rozelle Rowland). They entertained frequently at the Heliopolis. Jean, 2nd Baron Empain, was succeeded by their son,

Édouard-Jean Empain Édouard-Jean, 3rd Baron Empain (7 October 1937 – 21 June 2018) was a French people, French-Belgium, Belgian industrialist, best known by the general public for his kidnapping in 1978. Between 1969 and 1981, Baron Empain was CEO of the Sch ...

Honours

* : ** Honorary Aide-de-camp of the HM the King. ** War Cross ** Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold. * : Knight grand Cross of the

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sultana ...

. * : Knight grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

* : Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath. * : Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Notes

External links

*A
article from the ''Egyptian Mail''
by Samir Raafat, on the founding of the Cairo Electric Railways & Heliopolis Oases Company. *A
article from the ''Egyptian Mail''
by Samir Raafat. on the building of the Palace of the Baron Empain.
A selection of images of the palace of Baron Empain
(in Heliopolis, Egypt) {{DEFAULTSORT:Empain, Baron Empain, Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Empain, Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Empain, Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Empain, Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Belgian bankers Walloon people Honorary Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Belgian Army generals of World War I People from Hainaut (province) 19th-century Belgian engineers 20th-century Belgian engineers