26 Facts About Jules Lair

Jules-Auguste Lair was born in Caen on 25 May 1836.

Jules Lair's father, a trader in butter, died while he was a child.

Jules Lair studied at the College Royal de Caen, where he was a brilliant pupil.

Jules Lair then moved to Paris where he attended the Ecole des Chartes and studied archival palaeography.

Jules Lair entered the Ecole des Chartes in the autumn of 1855, and graduated first in 1858, ahead of Simeon Luce.

Jules Lair earned a doctorate from the Faculty of Law in Paris in 1859.

Jules Lair enrolled at the Bar of Paris, where he pleaded some cases.

Jules Lair entered the office of Sebastien Joseph Boulatignier, President of the litigation section in the Council of State.

Jules Lair worked for Antoine Blanche, Advocate General at the Court of Cassation.

In 1860, at the age of 25 Lair accepted the job of deputy director of the new Compagnie des Entrepots et Magasins generaux de Paris under M Moranville, a friend of Boulatignier.

Jules Lair was formed from assets of the failed Docks Napoleon.

Jules Lair became a captain in the staff of General Trochu in the National Guard.

Jules Lair was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour by decree of 30 January 1871.

In 1873 Moranville retired and Jules Lair became director of the company.

Jules Lair bought the Magasins Generaux d'Auhervilliers et de Saint-Denis, doubling the size of the enterprise.

In 1881, after the first telephony experiments, Jules Lair conceived the great project of organizing a telephone network in France.

Jules Lair organized the Societe generale des Telephones in 1881, which was taken over by the state in 1889.

Jules Lair was interested in underwater telegraphy, and wanted to create a network of submarine cable connecting France to her colonies.

Jules Lair entered into various other enterprises associated with the Credit Industriel et Commercial.

Jules Lair was particularly interested in the history of his native Normandy.

Jules Lair published a new edition of Dudo of Saint-Quentin's History of the Normans which was published in Caen under the title De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum in the memoirs of the Societe des Antiquaires de Normandie.

Jules Lair's long preface tried to establish that Dudo was a reliable historical source, which he was not, and the text has been criticized for careless collation and transcription.

Jules Lair's father-in-law had a country house in Bures-sur-Yvette, in the Vallee de Chevreuse, and this became an important retreat for Jules Lair whan he could find time away from business.

Jules Lair wrote an engaging history of the village of Bures.

Jules Lair continued to publish diverse works on aspects of the Middle Ages, the Sun King and the French Revolution.

Jules Lair always remained linked to Caen as a member of the Societe des Antiquaires de Normandie, while in Paris he was an active member of the Societe de l'Ecole des Chartes.