credits for above photo: SETE – J.Schlichter & F.Gaboriau
On October 3rd, our vice-president, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, represented the Eiffel family at the inauguration of a commemorative plaque in honor of Eugène Milon, foreman of the Eiffel Tower construction site, and the other carpenter companions who worked on the tower, on the first floor of the monument.
To be perfectly precise, it was more a matter of putting things right, since the original plaque, inaugurated by Jacques Chirac in 1984, had mysteriously disappeared a few years ago during renovation work on the first floor.
Also present were Patrick Branco Ruivo, CEO of the Eiffel Tower Operating Company, and around fifty Compagnons Charpentiers des Devoirs du Tour de France, including Vincent Peltier, their central secretary, and the two companions responsible for reinstating the plaque: Louis Lemenu and Bernard Grangé.
The speeches delivered, notably by our vice-president, highlighted the key role played by the carpenter companions in the raising of the Tower and the construction of the workers’ circulation platforms, and in particular that of Eugène Milon (1859–1917), who joined the Eiffel company at the age of 21, rising to become foreman during the construction of the Tower, and later head of operations and even operating director of the Tower from 1891 until his untimely death in 1917.
Eugène Milon and the carpenter companions are inseparable from the great adventure of the Eiffel Tower. It is only fitting and heartening that their memory is once again celebrated by this commemorative plaque!
