Antoine-Florent Guillain was a French maritime engineer who designed a major upgrade to the port of Dunkirk, and rose to be Minister of Public Works.
20 Facts About Florent Guillain
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Florent Guillain was appointed president or director of several major mining, shipbuilding, steel making and railway enterprises, and was a director of the Suez Canal Company and the Banque de France.
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Florent Guillain was born on 7 February 1844 in Paris.
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Florent Guillain studied at the Ecole polytechnique and the Ecole des ponts-et-chaussees, where he qualified as a maritime engineer.
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Florent Guillain was assigned to the Channel ports in 1868.
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Florent Guillain made improvements to the deep water harbor of Boulogne and to the entrance of the harbor of Calais.
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The new port designed by Guillain was officially opened in 1880.
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In 1888 Florent Guillain was made director of Roads, Navigation and Mines in the Ministry of Public Works.
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In 1893 Florent Guillain was elected to the general council of the Nord department as representative of the canton of Dunkirk East.
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Florent Guillain was Minister of Colonies from November 1898 to June 1899 in the fourth and fifth cabinets of Charles Dupuy.
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Florent Guillain declined the same portfolio in the cabinet of Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau.
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Florent Guillain was vice-president of the chamber from 1902 to 1906.
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Florent Guillain supported moderate policies, and was protectionist in economics.
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In 1902 Florent Guillain became chairman of the Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston, a large electrical company, replacing Emile Mercet.
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Florent Guillain was president of the Comite des forges and of the Union des syndicats de l'electricite.
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Florent Guillain served as a director of several large companies including the coal mining enterprise Mines d'Anzin, the iron and steel manufacturer Marine-Homecourt, the shipbuilder Ateliers et Chantiers de France, the railway company Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee, the Suez Canal Company and the Banque de France.
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Florent Guillain was active in the Societe de geographie in Paris.
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Florent Guillain was appointed Commander of the Legion of Honour.
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Florent Guillain was succeeded as president of the Comite des forges and of Thomson-Houston by Charles Francois Laurent.
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Florent Guillain was the author of numerous parliamentary proposal and reports.