Les 7 chats du Général Dufour
Christian Marbach (a former student of the École Polytechnique – Paris – class of 1956), very active within the Polytechnician community and a prolific author, wrote The Seven Cats of General Dufour, an evocation of General Dufour, a Swiss Polytechnician from the class of 1807 whose career was truly extraordinary.
However, the author did not choose to add his own biography to the list of those already published. Instead, he opted for a poetic approach, borrowing the voices of hypothetical cats (seven, he says) with whom the General might have shared both his public and, above all, his private life. This choice results in a charming and light-hearted fantasy about what the lived life of a great 19th-century figure—Swiss, moreover—might have been like. Light-hearted, yet no less serious for that, and filled with cultural references throughout more than 300 large pages.
Born into a Geneva family and becoming French during the revolutionary period, Guillaume-Henri Dufour successfully passed the entrance examination for the École Polytechnique. There he made many friends and developed his skills in mathematical reasoning, his scientific curiosity, and his talent for drawing and writing. Assigned to Corfu as an engineer officer, he gained his first experiences of command.
But the fall of Napoleon forced him to make choices. He settled in Geneva, where he became a renowned engineer, leading the city through thoughtful urban development projects while exercising political and military responsibilities with modesty.
From 1830 onwards, the Swiss Confederation entrusted Dufour with responsibilities far beyond the cantonal level. He became director of the National Officers’ School, methodically launched the major project of creating the Swiss topographic map, and, during the Sonderbund crisis, accepted responsibility for military operations with intelligence before organizing the return of peace with humanity. Always available to serve his country, he would later play a key role in the creation of the Red Cross alongside Henry Dunant, with the support of Napoleon III, who had once been his student.
*****
To recount this life, Christian Marbach (Polytechnician X1956) shares the pen with Dufour’s cats. Far from merely taking part in family life in Geneva or at Montrottier, they guide Dufour in Paris as well as in Corfu; they find the information he needs and help him refine his thinking through their mischievous dialectic. Their concern for historical accuracy does not prevent them from sometimes adopting the tone of legend.
Claude Gondard (Polytechnician X1965) illustrates this narrative with his recognized talent as an artist and engraver, showing deep respect for the General as well as for his cats.
In his preface, Jean-Jacques Langendorf, a leading historian of Dufour, pays a distinguished tribute to the General, his biographer, and his cats.
*****
The book can be purchased at the Fort de Chillon or at the Salons du Général Dufour (Geneva).
Format 16 x 23 cm. 320 pages – 25 euros TTC
Accompanied by 12 original illustrations by Claude Gondard
High-quality interior paper and cover
ISBN 978-2-492391 – 019
