Emmanuel Pontremoli (13 January 1865 – 25 July 1956) was a French
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
.
Biography
Pontremonli was born in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million[Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...]
, to a Jewish family from Piedmont; he studied in the ''atelier'' of
Louis-Jules André
Louis-Jules André (; 24 June 1819 – 30 January 1890) was a French academic architect and the head of an important ''atelier'' at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Biography
Born in Paris, André attended the École des Beaux-Arts and took the P ...
. In 1890, he won the
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
in the architecture category and in 1922 became a member of the
Académie des Beaux Arts. He taught a clinical architecture studio at the
Beaux-Arts, alongside
André Leconte, a former student and winner of the 1927 Prix de Rome.
Pontremoli was appointed director of the Beaux-Arts in 1932 and is credited with shepherding the school, whose
name had become synonymous with neoclassicism, into the twentieth century.
Pontremoli is best known for his architectural creation of
Villa Kerylos for
Théodore and Fanny Reinach at
Beaulieu-sur-Mer
Beaulieu-sur-Mer (; ; ; "Beautiful Place on the Sea"), commonly referred to simply as Beaulieu, is a seaside commune on the French Riviera between Nice and the Principality of Monaco. Located in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence- ...
and for the
Institute for Human Paleontology in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for
Albert I, Prince of Monaco
Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, ...
.
Family
In 1899, he married
Suzanne Hecht (1876-1956), with whom he had three children: Thérèse (1900-1989), Jean (1902-1940) and Michel (1908-1944).
During the
Nazi occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
, his sons
Michel Pontremoli and Jean Pontremoli enlisted and fought with the French partisan force. In 1944, they both died at the hands of the Nazis.
Pontremoli and his wife collected art.
The Avenue Emmanuel Pontremoli in Nice is named in his memory.
Gallery
Villa Kerylos BW 2011-06-10 11-56-07.JPG, Villa Kérylos, Beaulieu-sur-Mer
Institut-de-paleontologie-humaine-Paris.JPG, Institute for Human Paleontology, Paris
References
External links
Emmanuel Pontremoli at Culturespaces
1865 births
1956 deaths
20th-century French architects
Prix de Rome for architecture
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
People from Nice
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts
{{France-architect-stub