Jean François Mayor de Montricher


Jean François Mayor de Montricher was a Swiss engineer. He designed the Roquefavour Aqueduct, near Aix-en-Provence in France, and drained the Fucine Lake in Central Italy.

Biography

Early life

Jean François Mayor de Montricher was born on April 19, 1810 in Lully, Vaud, Switzerland. His mother was Marie Nicolette Pauline Françoise Chamot. His father, Jean Charles Louis Mayor de Montricher, was a businessman who moved to Marseille 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 Roquefavour Aqueduct. On September 30, 1852, Emperor Louis Napoléon Bonaparte awarded him with the Legion of Honor for his work. In 2002, it became a monument historique.
Later, he was commissioned by Alessandro Torlonia, 2nd Prince of Civitella-Cesi, to drain the Fucine Lake in Central Italy. The resulting plain became one of Italy's most fertile regions.

Death

He died of typhoid fever on May 28, 1858 in Naples, Italy.