Imphy () is a commune in the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.department in

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Industrial history

Imphy is known in particular for its steel-works, renowned for their special steels which were useful in particular for the north foot of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

in 1889.Aperam Alloys Imphy
on the web site imphy.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017. The Société de Commentry, Fourchambault et Decazeville was formed in 1853 through a merger of the Fourchambault foundry, Imphy steelworks,

Montluçon Montluçon (; ) is a commune in central France on the river Cher. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as ''Montluçonna ...

(Allier) foundry and

Commentry Commentry (; Auvergnat: ''Comentriac'') is a commune in the department of Allier in central France. It lies southwest of Moulins in the valley of the Œil. It is within 8 km of one of the geographic centres of France. The film actress ...

(Allier) colliery. The Imphy steelworks was detached from the company and combined with the Saint-Seurin steelworks. They were adapted to use the

Bessemer process The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities and undesired eleme ...

. In 1869 the two steelworks were reunited with the company. In 1954 the company was renamed the Société métallurgique d'Imphy. In 1968 it was merged with the Société des forges et aciéries du Creusot, which in 1971 became

Creusot-Loire Creusot-Loire was a French engineering conglomerate, formed from factories in Le Creusot and Châteauneuf, Loire. The Creusot-Loire subsidiary of ArcelorMittal also includes an Innovation, Research and Development centre for the group. History Th ...

. The combined company was in turn absorbed by Creusot-Loire (Saône-et-Loire) in 1971. The Creusot-Loire group was liquidated in December 1984.

Demographics

The fall in population since the 1990s is attributed to a decline in industrial activities in the area. At one time the factories of Imphy employed up to 3,000 workers. Today, they (ArcelorMittal and Aubert&Duval) employ only about 1,000 workers.

Notable personalities

Hubert Bourdot Hubert Bourdot (30 October 1861 – 30 September 1937) was a French Roman Catholic priest and mycologist who was a native of Imphy, a community in the department of Nièvre. From 1898 until his death, Bourdot was a parish priest in Saint-Priest ...

(Imphy, 30 October 1861 – 30 September 1937) was a French Roman Catholic priest and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

* Charles Cliquet (Imphy, 21 January 1891 - Paris, 27 March 1956), member of

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, Compagnon de la Libération * Stéphane Faye (Imphy, 10 May 1867 - Saint-Avé, 15 November 1947), writer

Imphy in the cinema

In Luc Moullet's short film, ''Imphy capitale de la France'' (1995), Moullet proposed making the town of Imphy the new capital of France, being ideally situated at the geographic centre of France.

References

Sources