SYLVESTRE

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

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4.9.1886 Chambéry/F - 27.11.1972 /F

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Victor Sylvestre graduated in 1909 from the Institut Polytechnique in Grenoble and joined Compagnie Générale d'Electricité. Shortly later he became chief engineer of Compagnie Electro-Mécanique CEM in Bourget. Sylvestre was made a war prisoner in 1914 and had to stay at the Vosges front for four years. He returned in 1918 to Grenoble and continued work with CEM. Sylvestre was involved in the second La Houille Blanche Congress in 1925 in Grenoble, where he presented a film on hydro-electricity and where he was awarded two Gold Medals for his 1925 book on that topic. He was promoted to director of CEM in 1933 and was in parallel a consulting engineer for hydro-electrical projects. Sylvestre was thus involved in the design and the execution of the Fouchères power plant on Seine River, which was remote controlled already in the 1930s. In 1938 Sylvestre was appointed Secretary of the Groupe des Alpes Dauphinois which was founded in 1888 and aimed to collect scientific and technical knowledge on the French Savoy region. He was awarded the title Cavalier of Ordre du Mérite for his contributions to research and inventions.

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Sylvestre's 1925 book on the early developments in hydropower engineering is notable. It gives an outlook on the developments in the Alpine region of France being important later as a prime developer of hydrotechnical elements such as turbines, pumps, gates or penstocks. That industry has currently almost disappeared because of other technologies being favored. Yet, the city and region of Grenoble will always be associated with La Houille Blanche, the synonym of hydropower engineering and the title of a successful national engineering journal of Société Hydrotechnique de France.

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_{Anonymous (1922). Société Hydrotechnique de France: Inauguration du Laboratoire d'Hydraulique de Beauvert à Grenoble. La Houille Blanche 21: 214-219.}

_{Anonymous (1973). Victor Sylvestre. Arts et Métiers 22(8/9): 73. P Sylvestre, V. (1913). Production de la force motrice. Dunod et Pinat: Paris. Sylvestre, V. (1925). La houille blanche. Allier: Grenoble.}

_{Sylvestre, V. (1945). Histoire de la houille blanche en Savoie. Société Savoisienne d'Histoire 74.}

_{Sylvestre, V. (1946). Contribution à l'histoire de la Houille Blanche et la part de la Savoie dans la conquête de l'énergie hydroélectrique. La Houille Blanche 1(9/10): 295-310.}

_{Sylvestre, V. (1950). Grenoble scientifique au XIXe siècle. Institut Polytechnique de l'Université de Grenoble 1900-1950: 14-20. Dardelet: Grenoble. P}