Jean François Mayor de Montricher (otherwise Frantz Mayor de Montricher) (19 April 1810 – 28 May 1858) was a Swiss engineer. He designed the

Roquefavour Aqueduct The Roquefavour Aqueduct () is an aqueduct in the commune of Ventabren, near Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. The aqueduct was first planned in 1565, but it was not realized until the 19th century. It was designed by Jean François ...

, near

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and drained the

Fucine Lake The Fucine Lake ( or ) was a large endorheic karst lake between above sea level and surrounded by the Monte Sirente- Monte Velino mountain ranges to the north-northeast, Mount Salviano to the west, Vallelonga to the south, and the Valle del G ...

in Central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Biography

Early life

Jean François Mayor de Montricher was born on 19 April 1810 in

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

.European Regional Conference Integrated Land and Water Resources Management in History: Proceedings of the Special Session on History, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage , May 16th, 2005, p. 17

/ref>''Bulletin des lois de la République Française'', 1831, Volumes 2-3, p. 61

/ref> His mother was Marie Nicolette Pauline Françoise Chamot. His father, Jean Charles Louis Mayor de Montricher, was a businessman who moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

for work. As a result, Jean Francois was educated at the Lycée Thiers in Marseille. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées.

Career

Mayor de Montricher was employed by Maximin-Dominique Consolat, the Mayor of Marseilles, to design the

. On 30 September 1852 Emperor

Louis Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

awarded him with the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

for his work. In 2002, it became a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' (). Later, he was commissioned by Alessandro Torlonia, 2nd Prince of Civitella-Cesi, to drain the

in Central Italy. The resulting plain became one of Italy's most fertile regions.

Death

He died of typhoid fever on 28 May 1858 in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayor de Montricher, Jean Francois 1810 births 1858 deaths People from Morges District People from Marseille École des Ponts ParisTech alumni École Polytechnique alumni Swiss engineers Recipients of the Legion of Honour

Biography

Early life

Career

Death

Further reading

References