Haussmann, Georges Eugène (1809-1891)

Haussmann was a high-level French bureaucrat and prefect of the region of the Seine from 1853 to 1870. In this capacity, and at the request of Emperor Napoléon III, he undertook the urban renewal of Paris. Many boulevards and avenues, most of them rectilinear, were created, along with public parks and gardens, all of which followed strict urban guidelines affecting the height of buildings and the styles of façades. Haussmann also rebuilt the system of water distribution and the sewer system. This radical transformation of Paris occasioned the destruction of around 18,000 houses. He became a Senator in 1857 and was eventually named a baron.