WHAT WE KNOW HIM FOR

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born on December 15, 1832 in Dijon and died on December 27, 1923. He entered the École Centrale de Paris to study chemistry. After graduating, he became interested in metallurgy and had the opportunity to work in this sector thanks to his mother's connections. He ended up being hired by Charles Nepveu, an engineer builder of steam engines who also made equipment for the railroads. Eiffel became head of the studies office at Pauwels et Cie a year later, in 1857. His first major project was the construction of the Pont de Bordeaux (over 500 meters), when he was only 25 years old.

From then on, he will be in charge of several other bridges in the Southwest region. Eiffel eventually settled in late 1866 west of Paris. In 1867 he created his own company and carried out various constructions which would increase his reputation in France and in the world. He perfected his technical innovations, in particular during the assembly of the cantilever.

During the 1870s and 1880s, the Eiffel company was at its peak and found itself in demand all over the world. The construction works are more and more complex and are carried out brilliantly (we can notably mention the Statue of Liberty in New York for which Gustave Eiffel designed the entire framework to support the weight of Bartholdi's sculpture). Associated with the work of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, we of course find the realization of what has become the symbol of France: Eiffel Tower.

The construction date of the Eiffel Tower could have been only an anecdote already forgotten, but it survived the Universal Exhibition. Despite vigorous criticism, success will be immediately apparent and the tower will remain when it was originally planned to destroy it 20 years after its construction. Gustave Eiffel, this visionary, was a man passionate about science. Gustave Eiffel also liked to experiment, in particular in meteorology and aeronautics. If he is particularly known as an engineer, his scientific spirit is less well known, even though the latter is found in his engineering work. To give an example, he built an aerodynamic wind tunnel at the Champ de Mars in 1909 which will be moved in 1911 to the 16th arrondissement to have a larger research laboratory.

WHAT WE CAN REPROACH HIM FOR

The Panama scandal ended on March 20, 1893 with the conviction to 5 years in prison of a former Minister of Public Works, Baïhaut, who alone had the naivety to admit his involvement in this gigantic swindle. Among the other accused, Ferdinand de Lesseps and Gustave Eiffel narrowly escaped prison thanks to a welcome prescription.

A crazy project

Haloed by the success of Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps repeats ten years later, in 1879, with the piercing of thePanama Isthmus, between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The isthmus is then part of Colombia.

The construction is scheduled to last twelve years and cost 600 million francs, a very high cost due to the absence of locks.

As for Suez, Lesseps created on October 20, 1880 a limited company in order to collect funds and lead the project, the Universal Company of the Interoceanic Canal of Panama. Work begins the following year.

But the American isthmus is crossed by a relatively high mountainous cordillera and the first works ended in immense difficulties.

Ferdinand de Lesseps then launched several subscriptions to the French public. But he uses the first funds to "spray" the press in order to hide the reality.

In the dead end, he calls on the engineer Gustave Eiffel, famous because of its tower which will be inaugurated in favor of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. This one does not hesitate to commit its prestige to the service of the old entrepreneur and revises the project by providing in particular locks.

The scandal of the century

However, France is entering a long period of economic depression and savers are reluctant to be seduced by adventure.

Ferdinand de Lesseps therefore watered the press according to a common practice at the time, as witnessed by Émile Zola in his novel L'Argent. Émile de Girardin, member and renowned journalist, founder of La Presse, first attacked the project with violence before joining it, and for good reason: he joined the Board of Directors of the Company!

Ferdinand de Lesseps also corrupts a hundred ministers and parliamentarians, the “chéquards”. He was served in his corrupt enterprise by a businessman of Jewish origin, Cornelius Herz, and an intermediary who was also an Israelite, a certain Jacques Reinach.

The collapse of the Company proved inevitable the following year. The court of the Seine pronounces its liquidation on February 4, 1889. It will lead to the ruin of 85,000 subscribers.

Disillusioned, French savers will henceforth give up industrial investments and will prefer “father of a family” investments (like Russian loans which will ultimately end in such resounding collapse!).

It will ultimately be up to the Americans to pierce the isthmus. The Panama Canal - with enormous locks as it should be - will be inaugurated on August 3, 1914… the very day of Germany's declaration of war on France.

Did you know that the Eiffel Tower was financed with part of the money from the Panama Canal?