Pierre Charles L'Enfant
| Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
August 2, 1754 Paris, Île-de-France, France |
| Died | June 14, 1825 (aged 70) Prince George's County, Maryland, U.S. |
| Nationality | French (French-American) |
| Education | Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture |
| Occupation | Architect, civil engineer, soldier |
| Organization | Continental Army |
| Known for | L'Enfant Plan |
| Title | Major |
Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (French: [pjɛʁ ʃɑʁl lɑ̃fɑ̃]; August 2, 1754 – June 14, 1825) was a French-born American architect and civil engineer best known for designing the layout of the streets of Washington, D.C., the L'Enfant Plan.
L'Enfant was born in Paris, France on August 2, 1754, the third child and second son of Pierre L'Enfant (1704–1787), a painter with a good reputation in the service of King Louis XV, and Marie Charlotte L'Enfant, the daughter of a minor official at court. In 1758, his brother Pierre Joseph died at the age of six, and Pierre Charles became the eldest son. He studied art at the Royal Academy in the Louvre, as well as with his father at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He left school in France to enlist in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the rebelling colonials.
L'Enfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to join in the American Revolutionary War in the American colonies. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, and served as a military engineer in the Continental Army with Major General Lafayette. He was commissioned as a captain in the Corps of Engineers on April 3, 1779 to rank from February 18, 1778.
Despite his aristocratic origins, L'Enfant closely identified with the United States, changing his first name from Pierre to Peter. L'Enfant served on General George Washington's staff at Valley Forge. While there, the Marquis de Lafayette commissioned L'Enfant to paint a portrait of Washington.
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