François-Gracchus Cabrol, A steelmaker (1793-1882, Year of Entry: 1810)

After his time at l’X, François-Gracchus Cabrol joined the Artillery Regiment, became a captain and distinguished himself in combat at Wilhelmsburg in 1814. His industrial career began when he left to study steelmaking in England. Following this, he joined the La Salle and Firmy Coal Mines Company in Aveyron, where he became General Manager. He ordered the construction of the blast furnaces and coke ovens in La Forésie in 1829, and later the forges of Decazeville, one of the largest industrial groups of the era. He built housing for 3,000 workers, a hospital, a church, schools, and railways, roads and bridges to transport the ore mined at Mondalazac. François-Gracchus Cabrol campaigned against social and free trade theories and was a member of parliament for Aveyron from 1846 to 1848.