Claude-Philibert Barthelot, comte de Rambuteau () (

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...

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

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

préfet A prefect (, plural , both ) in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Regional prefects are ''ex officio'' the departmental prefects of the regional prefecture. Prefects are tasked with upholding the law in the departme ...

of the former

Department of the Seine Seine is a former department of France, which encompassed Paris and its immediate suburbs. It was the only enclaved department of France, being surrounded entirely by the former Seine-et-Oise department. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE n ...

, which included Paris, from 1833 to 1848. He established the groundwork for the fundamental transformation of Paris that Haussmann carried out under the Second Empire.

Career

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

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic 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 central 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 ...

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, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, 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 Plac ...

in the

Place de l'Étoile The 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") includ ...

was finished, and the building of the great avenue of the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), 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 ...

commenced. Rambuteau’s motto was "Water, air, shade". He modernised the Paris sewers 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 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 pissoir (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 pissoirs aims to reduce urination onto buildings, sidewalks, or streets. ...

s (public urinals, popularly known as " Rambuteau columns") along Paris roads. 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

On 7 March 1808 at

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, he married 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. Born at Colorno in the Duchy of Parma, Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara, was possibly the illegitimate son of King ...

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

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

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

Baron 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 than ...

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 ...

References

Sources

* Domingos de Araújo Afonso

et alii References Notes References Further reading * * External links * {{Latin phrases E ...

, ''Le Sang de Louis XIV'' (Braga, 1961), Tome I, p. 276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rambuteau, Claude-Philibert Barthelot, comte de 1781 births 1869 deaths People from Mâcon Counts of France Orléanists Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France) Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of Parliament for Loire Members of Parliament for Saône-et-Loire Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy Prefects of Loire Prefects of Aude Prefects of Allier Prefects of Seine