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Charles Axel Guillaumot

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Architect

The Resume

    (February 27, 1730-October 7, 1807)
    Born in Stockholm, Sweden
    Made the first Inspector General of Paris when it was created by decree of King Louis XVI (April 4, 1777)
    Held the post until 1791, and then from 1796 until his death (the longest-ever holder of the office)
    Mapped the mines of Paris to enable better maintenance of public roads and royal buildings
    Designated the creation of the Catacombs of Paris (1774 – 86)

Why he might be annoying:

    In mapping out the mines of Paris, he came up with the idea to reuse them as ossuaries for skeletal remains.
    This idea came about after a wall adjoining the Holy Innocents’ Cemetery collapsed under the weight of its mass grave, resulting in residents of the Rue de Lingerie finding corpses in their cellars (May 31, 1780).
    He thusly recommended that the excess bones, skulls, and bodies be exhumed and transported to the consolidated quarries (eventually leading to all of the city’s cemeteries being emptied into the Catacombs, starting in 1786).
    The mine shaft’s walls were aligned with skulls, tibias, and femurs arranged in columns (creepy as all Hell), the depths of which remain to be fully explored and still can be extremely dangerous in some areas.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At the age of twenty, he won the architectural Prix de Rome competition while he was studying in Italy.
    He is widely credited with ‘saving Paris.’
    He and his men mapped out 180 miles worth of narrow subterranean quarries.
    He designated the Holy Innocents’ Cemetery to be converted into an herb and vegetable market.
    He was imprisoned for two years during the French Revolution — partly because of his royal appointment, and partly because of a rival architect’s scheming.
    When he was released, in 1794, he went right back to work at his old post, and also took on an additional post within the new bureaucracy.
    He was buried in the Cemetery Sainte-Catherine, but when the cemetery was emptied in 1883, he joined the other dead Parisians beneath the city, in the Catacombs he had helped build.
    The Catacombs of Paris remain a popular tourist destination and source of fascination to this day.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
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