Jean Beausire

Jean Beausire (1651-1743), was an architect, engineer and fountain-maker and the chief of public works in Paris for King Louis XIV of France and King Louis XV of France between 1684 and 1740, and was the architect of all the public fountains constructed in Paris that period. Several of his fountains still exist and continue to work. Three streets in the 4th arrondissement of Paris today carry his name: Rue Jean-Beausire, Impasse Jean-Beausire, and Passage Jean-Beausire.

Biography

Jean Beausire was born February 26, 1641. His father was a stonemason, and the family lived in the St. Severin quarter of Paris. He married Marie Roman in 1670, and they had eight sons, one of whom, Pierre, born in 1673, also became a fountain-maker. Five of the sons died prematurely, and the other two sons went into the church.

Marie Roman died in 1679, and the following year Beausire remarried to Marie-Catherine Le Trotteur, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. They had nineteen children, many of whom became part of his fountain workshop.