Louis Michel Thibault
| Louis Michel Thibault | |
|---|---|
Louis Michel Thibault by Lady Anne Barnard, Cape Archives
|
|
| Born |
29 September 1750 Picquigny, Picardy, France |
| Died | 15 November 1815 (aged 65) |
| Occupation | Architect and Engineer |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Louis Michel Thibault (28 September 1750 – 15 November 1815), was a French-born South African architect and engineer who designed numerous buildings in the Cape Colony. He was South Africa's first trained architect and brought with him a distinctive mannered neo-classicism.
Born 28 September 1750 in Picquigny, Picardy in France, Thibault was trained at the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris. At the time, the Academy under Ange-Jacques Gabriel, provided the best architectural training available. Gabriel was an architect in the classical tradition, and had an important formative influence on Thibault's style. After qualifying at the Academy, details of the next few years of Thibault's life are unknown. It is known, however, that he studied military engineering in Paris under the sponsorship of Colonel Charles Daniel de Meuron.
Cape under Dutch occupation to 1795 The Swiss mercenary DeMeuron Regiment in the service of the Dutch East India Company, arrived in Cape Town on 7 January 1783 with Lieutenant Thibault among them, only to re-embark almost immediately on the Hermione to Ceylon where they were to assist French Admiral Suffren. Ceylon had been under Dutch rule since 1665, but in the latter part of the 18th century, the British began to move eastward from India. In Ceylon, the DeMeuron Regiment took part in the expulsion of the British from Cuddalore, which had been occupied by the English under General Stuart.
Two other regiments, the Régiment de Pondichéry and the mercenary Legion of the Prince of Luxemburg, were posted at the Cape and landed in Cape Town in April 1782 by order of Admiral de Suffren to reinforce the resistance of France's Dutch ally and prevent their mutual enemy, Britain, from capturing the Cape. After peace in Ceylon, the DeMeuron Regiment shared garrison duty with the Régiment de Pondichéry, in Cape Town.
On 5 August 1785 he transferred to the Dutch East India Company, retaining his rank, and in February 1786 was appointed Company building inspector under Captain Sebastiaan Willem van de Graaff, son of the Governor. In August 1786 he was chosen to direct the School of Cadets started by the Governor; his duties included being Professor of Mathematics and Military Science. Thibault settled in a place that came to be known as the Brand House, and later the Wale Street police-station. Between 1786 and 1790 Thibault designed all new public buildings and a number of private houses. From this date on Thibault's work is associated with that of Anton Anreith, a young sculptor and woodcarver from Freiburg, who had arrived as a soldier in the Company's service in 1777, and with Hermann Schutte, a young architect and builder from Bremen who arrived in 1789. In 1790 the Dutch East India Company was virtually bankrupt and all work on public buildings and fortifications was stopped. Private commissions, however, continued unabated. In 1788 Thibault had been promoted from lieutenant of engineers to captain and by 1795 to chief military engineer. Before and during the British occupation of the Cape, Thibault was obliged to carry out orders from Colonels de Lille and Gordon, which as an accomplished military strategist, he knew to be unsound.
...
Wikipedia