Léon Chagnaud (1866-1930) was a French businessman and politician.

Early life

Léon Chagnaud was born on 12 March 1866 in

Le Bourg-d'Hem Le Bourg-d’Hem is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography A farming and forestry area comprising the village and a few small hamlets situated some north of Guéret at the junction of th ...

, rural France.French Senate: Léon Chagnaud
/ref>Jean Gammal, Pascal Plas, Guy Avizou
''Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Limousin sous la IIIe République: Creuse''
Limoges: Presses Universitaires de Limoges, 2001, pp. 45-48 His father, Hippolyte Chagnaud, was a mason based in Guéret who owned quarries of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

which were used to pave some of the streets of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. His mother was Jeanne Chagnaud. His sister, Antoinette Chagnaud, married Philippe Fougerolle, a mason who founded Fougerolle, a construction company acquired by

Eiffage Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe. History The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing compani ...

in 1992. He graduated from the Arts et Métiers ParisTech engineering school in Châlons-sur-Marne. His father died in 1891, when Chagnaud was 25. He then did his military service.

Career

With his inheritance, Chagnaud founded Entreprise Chagnaud, a construction company. In Paris, he built the Viaduct of Passy across the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

as well as the Paris Métro Line 4 under the Seine, the railroad tracks from the

Gare d'Austerlitz The Gare d'Austerlitz (English: Austerlitz Station), officially Paris-Austerlitz, is one of the six large Paris rail termini. The station is located on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the 13th arrondissemen ...

to the Gare d'Orsay, and the Opéra métro station. In provincial France, he built locks of the Canal du Centre, the

Rove Tunnel The Rove Tunnel ( French: ''Tunnel du Rove'') is a currently out-of-use canal tunnel in Southern France that connected the 16th arrondissement of Marseille to the Étang de Berre in the Bouches-du-Rhône department from 1927 to 1963. It allowed for ...

, the aqueduct of Achères, the

Éguzon Dam The Éguzon dam is a hydroelectric dam on the river Creuse in central France. Construction took place from 1922 to 1926 and, at the time, was the largest dam in Europe. Éguzon Dam The dam is 61 metres high and 300 metres across, with the thicknes ...

. He also built the Ghrib Dam in

Oued Chorfa Sued Chorfa is a coastal town in northern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates ...

, and the

Bou Hanifia Dam Bou () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. The village is situated in the greater Orléans area, in a meander of the river Loire, 14 km east of Orléans and 9 km west of the town of Jargeau. Bou is separated b ...

in Bou Hanifia,

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. Additionally, he built the Lötschberg Tunnel in Switzerland. Chagnaud purchased '' L'Écho de La Creuse'', a regional newspaper. He was also a large landowner in Creuse,

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

, and French Algeria. He served on the board of directors of the Société des Mines de bitume et d'Asphalte du Centre (SMAC), which owned an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

mine in

Pont-du-Château Pont-du-Château (; oc, label=Auvergnat dialect, Auvergnat, Pont dau Chastèl; literally 'Bridge of the Castle') is a Communes of France, commune in the Puy-de-Dôme Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. ...

and pioneered the use of asphalt to build roads in France. Additionally, he served on the Boards of Directors of two Moroccan companies: Omnium de Transports au Maroc and Ports Marocains. He served as a member of the French Senate from 1921 to 1930, representing Creuse. He was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...

. He ran for re-election in 1930, but lost his seat to François Binet. He became an Officer 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, ...

Personal life

He married Pauline Jouanny on 14 July 1875 in Bonnat. They had a son, Charles Chagnaud, and a daughter, Mrs Jeanne Lenormand. They resided at 83,

Avenue Henri-Martin Avenue Henri-Martin is an avenue in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, named after the French historian Henri Martin (1810–1883), onetime mayor of the 16th arrondissement. The Avenue Henri-Martin in the 16th arrondissement of Paris is 663 metre ...

, in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de T ...

. They also owned two chateaux in La Creuse: the Château de Lasvy in

Champsanglard Champsanglard (; oc, Champ Sanglard) is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography An area of forestry, farming, lakes and streams comprising the village and several hamlets situated some ...

, and the Château de Beauvais in

Saint-Amand-Jartoudeix Saint-Amand-Jartoudeix (; Limousin: ''Sent Amand Jartodés'') is a commune in the Creuse department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Creuse department The following is a list of the 256 communes of the Creuse depart ...

, and another chateau in Indre: Château de Bélâbre.

Death and legacy

He died at his Château de Lasvy in Champsanglard on 31 July 1930. He was buried in Bonnat. His son served in

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 ...

and inherited the family business.Premiere Guerre Mondiale: Charles Chagnaud
/ref> His company is now known as Chagnaud construction.Chagnaud construction

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chagnaud, Leon 1866 births 1930 deaths French civil engineers French corporate directors French Senators of the Third Republic Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Arts et Métiers ParisTech alumni