DUFOUR H

SWITZERLAND (see also List of Individuals)

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15.9.1787 Konstanz/D - 14.7.1875 Genève/CH

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Guillaume-Henri Dufour was educated at Académie of Geneva and from 1807 to 1809 at the Paris Ecole Polytechnique as a civil engineer. He then joined the French Army as an officer to develop his knowledge at the Army School of Metz and was involved in fortress design until 1814 on Corfu Island in the Mediterranean. In 1817, he returned to Geneva, where he served as the Cantonal Engineer from 1821 to 1850. In parallel, he contributed to a large number of services in technical, political and military projects. He was for example several times the head of the Swiss Army to defend his country against foreign menaces. He had special merits as the Swiss general in 1847 when leading the Federal Army against some disloyal cantons during the Sonderbundkrieg, and thus also indirectly responsible for the foundation of the modern Swiss State in 1848. He further served Switzerland both as National and Congress Councilor, and was a founding Member of the Red Cross in 1864.

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During his stay with Geneva Canton, Dufour contributed to hydraulic structures. He for instance designed buildings along the quays of Geneva and investigated the pumping works of the city close to Rhone River. In addition, Dufour contributed to the lake regulation. In 1823, he proposed a suspension bridge over Rhone River in Geneva using wire ropes instead of chains, as had used Henri Navier (1785-1836) over Seine River in Paris, and which failed the day after bridge erection. Besides to his military career, Dufour's main professional activity from 1833 to 1864 was the creation of the first Swiss national topographic map in a scale of 1:100,000. He also lectured at Academy of Geneva from 1821, where he presented courses in physics and in hydraulics, including pipe and channel flows, and overfalls and orifice flows. The second course detailed river engineering works, whereas the third was dedicated to hydraulic machinery. A detailed documentation of these works is provided by Henry Favre (1901-1966).

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_{Anonymous (1875). Dufour, Général. L'Illustration 1691: Frontispice. P Dufour, G.-H. (1820). Mémorial pour les travaux de guerre. Paschoud: Genève. Dufour, G.-H. (1822). De la fortification permanente. Genève.}

_{Favre, H. (1947). Hydraulique. L'oeuvre scientifique et technique du Général Guillaume-Henri Dufour: 331-427. Griffon: Neuchâtel. P}

_{Favre, H. (1963). Le Général Dufour, ingénieur genevois. SIA Genève 1863-1963: 94-96. P}

_{Vischer, D.L. (2001). Guillaume-Henri Dufour. Wasserbauer und Hydrauliker der Schweiz: 30-31. Verbandsschrift 63. Schweizerischer Wasserwirtschaftverband: Baden. P}