He will not be present on December 8, 2024, the announced date of the reopening to the public and worship of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The announcement of the death of General Georgelin, who died suddenly during a solo hike in the Pyrenees on Friday evening, created a shock wave within the teams and companies responsible for the reconstruction of the cathedral. From their vacation spot, everyone seemed to have trouble digesting this tragic news, not wanting to believe in the disappearance of a man who, at the head of the public establishment for the reconstruction of Notre Dame, led the operations drum beating . “I am upset, it is a great figure of the site who disappears” estimates on the telephone the chief architect of Notre Dame, Philippe Villeneuve, who even says today “a little lost”.
Endowed with a legendary outspokenness, a mixture of authority and humour, General Georgelin held a unique position in what must be called the construction site of the century. Although initially unfamiliar with heritage circles, he was passionate about this national monument. “He was very committed to his country, and had a close bond with Notre Dame. I saw him wipe away a tear during the installation of the wooden stool to support the future arrow, ”says Figaro Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture and privileged interlocutor of the general.
On the evening of the fire, April 15, 2019, the question of how to straighten the cathedral, whose frame, spire and part of the vaults had gone up in smoke, immediately arose. “You should take a general to direct the work” had suggested the former Minister of Culture Jack Lang, to the President of the Republic. And it was Army General Jean Louis Georgelin, a practicing Catholic, who was chosen by Emmanuel Macron. It is an understatement to say that this choice had, at the time, created a stir within the Ministry of Culture – the general being neither from the seraglio nor a specialist in work on historical monuments. After the gnashing of teeth, the latter entered in 2020 at the head of a new public establishment created ad hoc. Designated “special representative of the President of the Republic”, a title to which he held, Jean-Louis Georgelin occupied the former chapel of the Élysée Palace (while the 44 employees of the Establishment work in the 7th arrondissement of Paris) .
Upon his arrival, he immersed himself in the intricacies of Gothic architecture, but also in the techniques of public markets, or in the art of the link with patrons. He left his mark, soon showing himself to be unbeatable on the various aspects of the construction site, moving regularly to workshops working on railings, statuary, frameworks or stained glass.
His whole character and a certain freedom of tone will sometimes oppose him to companies or journalists. “You are a pain in the ass!” he said willingly, in a booming voice, to anyone who said or did something he didn’t like. In 2021, heard by the National Assembly’s Cultural Affairs Committee, he suggested that the chief architect of the cathedral, who openly advocated an identical reconstruction of the spire, to “shut up”. The outcry was immense, but it left few traces: the two strong men of the cathedral got along like a thief at a fair, and could not do without each other, each in their role.
In his office at the Élysée, every Thursday, the general received Philippe Villeneuve, as well as Philippe Jost, director of the establishment, for lunch to take stock of the progress of the work. These ritual meetings, the trio would not have missed them for anything in the world. They wanted to be formal, but often turned into “frank laughs”, as the joke, with the general, was never very far. “On the site, we all discovered a character who was curious and interested in things, and above all, very close to our guys”, testifies Xavier Rogriguez, boss of Jarnias (cordists).
At the time of confinement, the general looked for a way to bring the workers back as quickly as possible, and found the means to house them in Paris, so that the site could continue: commissioned to rebuild the monument in five years, he had no ceases to mobilize the “troops” to achieve this goal – yet deemed impossible when it was announced by Emmanuel Macron, on the evening of the fire. “He was a planning virtuoso, who held calendars hands down. He always saw success as possible,” continues Rima Abdul Malak. Didn’t he say, in front of the cameras of the American channel ABC, that “nothing was impossible for a French general”?
This dynamic impelled on one of the most observed construction sites in the world today allows all companies to have a base to move towards the final stretch. He who did not hate slipping into military vocabulary when he spoke of the works (the general was always “on a mission”, the straightening of the arrow was “a fight” etc.) will have proven himself, as a leader of the renaissance one of the most important monuments in France. It is still too early to know how his succession will be done, the hour being in shock of this unexpected and tragic disappearance.
In a press release, the Élysée considers that “on December 8, 2024, he will be present with us, when he reopens, in another way, in the emotion that we will owe him, in the gratitude that we will feel towards his work, in this communion with the same ideals, against which death can do nothing”.
