Auguste Eugène Brillié (1863-1940) was a French engineer, who invented the first French battle

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

, the

Schneider CA1 The Schneider CA 1 (originally named the Schneider CA) was the first French Third Republic, French tank, developed during the First World War. The Schneider was inspired by the need to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare which on the Wester ...

Biography

Early years

Brillié was born on 8 May 1863 in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. After his studies at the

École Centrale Paris École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, he began his career from 1887 to 1898 at the Compagnie des

Chemins de fer de l'Ouest The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...

Cars

;Gobron-Brillié He joined with Gustave Gobron to create the Société des Moteurs Gobron-Brillié and to develop an

opposed-piston engine An opposed-piston engine is a piston engine in which each cylinder (engine), cylinder has a piston at both ends, and no cylinder head. Petrol and diesel opposed-piston engines have been used mostly in large applications such as ships, military ...

he had invented. The Gobron-Brillié brand acquired a certain fame. It participated in the Paris–Madrid race of 1903, and set speed records, including that of being the first car to exceed 160 km/h (100 mph). In 1903 the UK agents for Gobron-Brillié were Botwood and Egerton. In 1905 the Gobron-Brillie British Motor Company was established. ;Eugène Brillié In 1903, Eugène Brillié ended his partnership with Gobron. He created the automobile company Eugène Brillié and had cars of his design built by the workshops of Schneider & Cie at

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

(former Forge Artillery Workshops and Chantiers de la Méditerranée, bought by Schneider in 1897). His brand was then offering passenger cars and utility cars. Schneider gradually took over the Brillié Company. While working for Schneider he designed the

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

for the first motorized artillery system for Portugal. The design was based on one of his dump trucks. ;Nagant-Gobron-Brillie In Belgium, Leon and Maurice Nagant of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

made some Gobron-Brillie products under licence.

Locomotive

Brillié designed an experimental Naphthalene locomotive, which was built by Schneider in 1913.

Tanks

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a meeting between Colonel Estienne and Brillié led to the development of a

project in December 1915. In early January 1916, Marshal Joffre authorized the continuation of the project and, on 31 January, asked for the purchase of 400 of what were then called "land battleships" armed with 75 mm guns. These were the first French tanks, the

Death

Brillié died on 28 May 1940 in

Seignelay Seignelay () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. The regional historian Vaast Barthélemy Henry (1797–1884) was born in Seignelay. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The follo ...

(Yonne).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brillié, Eugène French engineers 1863 births 1940 deaths