INTERESTING BIOGRAPHY

ALEXANDRE GUSTAVE EIFFEL

“I ought to be jealous of the tower. It is more famous than I am.”

Gustave Eiffel is an engineer mostly known because of his marvel design of Eiffel Tower, which has his last name in honor to him. This engineer has left behind a rich legacy of engineering masterpieces of architecture which are landmarks in different parts of the world, though in his childhood, he was not a studious kid, he was influenced by members of his family to get interest in metal construction; even if his specialty was chemistry, he became more famous for his designs than for his specialty.

Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijón, France on December 15, 1832. He was the first child of Alexandre and Catherine Eiffel. They were descendant of a German man who emigrated from Marmagen, a German town, and settled in Paris at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Eiffel was not their original name, but his parents adopted that name as a reference to the Eiffel Mountains. Although his family called him as Eiffel Gustave, but he was not registered under that name, later he changed his original name to Eiffel in 1880.

During his childhood, he was not studious, and though his classes at the Lycée Royal in Dijón were boring and a waste of time. However, in his last two years, he was influenced by his teacher of history and literature, so he began to study seriously. An important part of his education was played by his uncle Jean-Baptiste Mollerat, who invented a process for distilling vinegar and had a large chemical work near Dijón, and also one of his uncle’s friend, the chemist Michael Perret. Both men taught him about almost everything from chemistry and mining to technology and philosophy.

He attended to École Polytechnique and later to the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (College of Arts and Manufacturing) in Paris, and he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Chemistry, in 1885. After his graduation, he joined Charles Nepveu as a project manager for building a railway bridge.

In 1857, the Bordeaux bridge was Eiffel’s first major work. At his reputation spread, he was entrusted for constructing some landmark projects such as La Ruche, Garabic Viaduct, The Central Railway Station in Santiago de Chile, and The Mona Island Lighthouse near Puerto Rico. He was commissioned to build the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris. It quickly became a landmark and it is one of the most visited places in Paris nowadays. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people to the U.S. people. Eiffel designed its internal steel structural elements. He rapidly became a source of pride to the Americans and stands out as a beacon of freedom around the world.

Eiffel died at the age of 91 on December 27, in 1923. He was buried in the cemetery of Levallois-Perret.

Gustave Eiffel was a person who is still well-known nowadays, because of his passion and creativity at his works. He was someone who persisted until he gained recognition due to his devotion whenever he started a project. He was chosen as an interesting personality because he designed Eiffel Tower without any idea that this project would be the most famous of his entire life.

“Well, I think the curves of the four pillars of the monument, as the calculations have provided them, give it a great sense of force and beauty.”

Gustave Eiffel.-