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Home > Historic times > The Great Men who have marked the Meuse and Characters of Today > Men of Politics and Historical Figures
Men of Politics and Historical Figures
Jean Errard was born at Bar-le-Duc in 1554. Engineer to the French King Henry IV, mathematician, known as the "Father of Fortifications", he was the forerunner to Vauban.
Rémi-Isidore Exelmans was born at Bar-le-Duc in 1775. He was a Marshall of France, hero of the Imperial Cavalry. He took part in his last battle at Rocquencourt in 1815 against the Prussians.
Nicolas-Charles Oudinot was born at Bar-le-Duc in 1775. Peer and Marshall of France, Duke of Reggio and Governor of Les Invalides. He distinguished himself at the battles of Austerlitz and Wagram, among others.
Le Clos, which was the summer residence of Raymond Poincaré, is located at SAMPIGNY, a few kilometres to the south of Saint-Mihiel. Today, this building is a museum devoted to this man, born in the Meuse, who was President of the Republic from 1913 to 1920 during the most difficult times of the Great War.
It was Maurice Barrès who gave the Voie Sacrée its name. A few figures: day and night, in both directions, one vehicle every 14 seconds transported troops, guns, munitions, the wounded, and food - 50,000 tonnes of materials and supplies and 90,000 men every week. The upkeep of this road needed 900,000 tonnes of stones. The Voie Sacrée has become a national monument, and is the only "route national" (main road) in France which does not have to have a number. Its milestones have a soldier's helmet on top, and are decorated with a martyr's crown.
André Maginot (1877 - 1932). He was a French politician best known for having allowed the construction of the Maginot Line. Although born in Paris, André Maginot came from a family whose ancestry goes back to the start of the 18th century in the annals of Revigny-sur-Ornain ( in the Meuse). In 1909, at the age of 33, he began a political career when he was elected Départemental Councillor for the Canton of Revigny-sur-Ornain, then Deputy for Bar-le-Duc, which he remained until his death.
Fernand Braudel (1902 - 1985). Historian, born at Lumeville-en-Ornois. Qualifying as a history teacher in 1923, Fernand Braudel could not obtain a post at the Lycée in Bar-le-Duc, and the uncertain chance of administrative nominations sent him to French Algeria. Later he taught in Brazil. After the Second World War, he joined the Historical magazine "Annales, Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations", and taught from 1949 at the Collège de France. He opened history up to the study of large-scale areas and long-lasting phenomena, and was interested in the economy of pre-industrial Europe. He was elected to the Académie française on 14th June 1984. he died on 27th November 1985 in Savoie. Fernand Braudel is renowned internationally as one of the greatest historians of his time.Meuse Tourist Board - Official website
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