Guillaume-Henri Dufour
1787 - 1875

"Politics require a wrestler, a fighter, a man who will triumph and nothing more." (Vers les Sommets)

Promoted to the rank of chief general of the Swiss armies in 1847, he prevented the secession of seven cantons during the Sonderbund civil war.

A remarkable cartographer, he founded the Federal Bureau of Topography in order to carry out a vast project: the atlas of national maps (1865).

At the age of 76, he became a member of the “Committee of Five”, which was at the origine of the Red Cross principles. Until his death at the age of 88, he remained the major personality at nearly all official ceremonies in Switzerland.

And Geneva?

In 1817, Dufour took on the position of cantonal engineer in Geneva. We owe him, among other achievements, the new quays, the construction of the Bergues and Coulouvrenière bridges, the old Bastions and the “Ile des Barques”, today, Ile Rousseau.

Associated with Pictet and Seguin, he erected one of the world’s first suspended bridges, in 1852, above the trench separating St-Antoine from the Tranchées.

He died in Geneva at his family residence on July 14, 1875.

To see:

• He was buried in the Plainpalais Cemetery (tomb No. 701), rue des Rois.
• Equestrian statue, place Neuve
• Scale models of his bridges are exhibited. Maison Tavel, rue du Puits-Saint-Pierre 6
• He lived during 20 years at Rue Etienne-Dumont 14
• Rue du Général-Dufour

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