Pierre Peytier


Pierre Peytier - Jean Pierre Eugène Félicien Peytier, sometimes named Eugène Peytier - was a French officer, geographer, engineer, cartographer and painter.

Life

Pierre Peytier entered the École polytechnique in 1811, where he obtained his diploma. He was then integrated into the topographical service of the French army in the corps of the engineers-geographers in 1813. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1817, then Capitain in 1827.

In the Pyrenees (1825)

Engineer geographer and geodesist, he was one of the first geodesic officers charged in 1825 with the triangulation of the Pyrenees in order to establish the map of France, together with his colleague Paul-Michel Hossard. By necessity of service and together with the officers Corabœuf and Testuhe, he was also one of the first pyreneists.
He made the first ascents of the Pyrenean peaks Palas, Balaïtous and Saint-Barthélemy. These true exploits went completely unnoticed at the time and many later ascensionists, believing they were achieving these ascents first, found traces of the passage of the Geodesists. That was the case for the explorer Charles Packe when reaching the summit of the Balaïtous.

Scientific expedition of Morea (1829)

Captain Pierre Peytier, of the topographic service of the French army, had already been invited to Greece by its Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias when the latter had come to Paris in October 1827 to ask the French government for advisers and officers of the army French to organize the army of the newly founded Greek State. Thus, on the recommendation of the French Ministry of War, Peytier and three other officers arrived in Greece, in order to train young Greek engineers who would undertake surveying projects, while Peytier himself was to draw the plans for the city of Corinth and the map of Peloponnese. Then when the scientific expedition of Morea landed at Navarino in the Peloponnese on March 3, 1829, Peytier was thus attached to it.
As soon as from March, a base of 3,500 meters had been traced in the Argolis, from one angle at the ruins of Tiryns to an angle of a house in ruins in the village of Aria. This was intended to serve as a point of departure in all the triangulation operations for topographic and geodesic readings in the Peloponnese. Peytier and Puillon-Boblaye proceeded to perform numerous verifications on the base and on the rulers used. The margin of error was thus reduced to 1 meter for every 15 kilometers. The longitude and latitude of the base point at Tiryns were read and checked, so that again the margin of error was reduced as far as possible to an estimated 0.2 seconds. 134 geodesic stations were set up on the peninsula's mountains, as well as on Aegina, Hydra and Nafplion. Thus, equilateral triangles whose sides measured about were drawn. The angles were measured with Gambey's theodolites. However, after the departure of the scientific mission from Greece, and although he fell ill with the fever five times, Peytier remained there alone until July 31, 1831 to complete the trigonometric, topographic and statistical work for the establishment of the map of Morea.
This « :File:Map of Greece - Peytier Eugène - 1832.jpg|Map of 1832 », very precise, drawn at a 1/200,000 scale, over 6 sheets was the first map of the Greek territory ever constructed scientifically and geodesically.After a passage in France between 1831 and 1833, Peytier returned to Greece on March 28, 1833 and remained there until March 1836 to direct most of the work for the preparation of the complete map of the Kingdom of Greece at that time. This « :File:Map of Greece - Peytier Eugène - 1852.jpg|Map of 1852 » was definitively published under his direction in 1852.
Peytier also left an album which he himself composed with his pencil drawings, sepias and watercolours depicting city views, monuments, costumes and inhabitants of Greece at the time. He used an artistic style that avoidied idealization for the benefit of scientific fidelity and precision, which fully revealed the topographer that he was.

The last years

Peytier returned definitively to France in 1836 and from 1839 he continued his work on the map of France in the cartographic section of the army. He became director of the war archives. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1852. He died in 1864 at the age of seventy.

Gallery of drawings

National Bank of Greece, Athens, 1971.">
File:Peytier - Mosque in the Parthenon.jpg|The mosque of the Parthenon from the northeast.
File:Athens View from the north - west - Peytier Eugène - before 1834.jpg|View of Athens from the northwest.
File:Athens View from the south - east - Peytier Eugène - before 1834.jpg|View of Athens from the southeast.
File:Athens The Kamaroporta and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, from the west- Peytier Eugène - after 1834.jpg|Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, from the west.
File:Athens The Acropolis with the Areopagos to the left, from the south-west - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|The Acropolis with the Areopagos to the left, from the southwest.
File:Athens The Choregic momument of Lysicrates and the ruined quarter of Fanari, from the north-east - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|The Choregic momument of Lysicrates and the ruined quarter of Fanari, from the northeast.
File:Peytier - The Fethiye Mosque with the Tower of the Winds.jpg|Fethiye mosque and the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrristos, from the southwest.
File:Athens The Church of the Taxiarchs and the Fethiye Mosque - Peytier Eugène - 1833.jpg|The church of the Patriarchs and the Fethiye mosque in Athens.
File:Athens The Church of the Gorgoepikoos and the ruined quarter of Gorgopiko, from the north-west - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|The church of Panagia Gorgopikoos and the ruined quarter of Gorgopiko, from the north-west.
File:Athens - Ruined houses east of the Theseion - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Ruined houses east of Theseion quarter in Athens.
File:Athens View from the west, looking towards the Pazaroporta - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|View of Athens from the west, looking towards the Gate of Athena Archegetis.
File:Peytier - Seaside cafe at Patras.jpg|Waterfront café in Patras.
File:Patra The Church of the Pantokrator - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|The Church of Pantokrator in Patras.
File:Nafplion The quarter of Hourmadia and the Bourdzi - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|The quarter of Hourmadia and the Bourtzi in Nafplion.
File:Nafplion from the north-east, seen from Pronoia - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Nafplion from the northeast, seen from Pronoia.
File:Village - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Village.
File:Peytier - Kololotronis and his personal escort.jpg|Theodoros Kolokotronis and his personal escort.
File:Nafplion Members of the "Typikon" on parade at Pronia - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Members of the "Typikon" on parade at Pronia in Nafplion.
File:Peytier - Ibrahim Pasha at Navarino 1828.jpg|Ibrahim Pasha in the harbour of Navarin en 1828.
File:Petrobey Mavromichalis - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Petrobey Mavromichalis.
File:Canaris - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Konstantinos Kanaris.
File:Peytier - Greek chieftain, 1830s.jpg|Greek chieftain.
File:Man smoking - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Man smoking.
File:Soldier with flintlock - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Soldier with flintlock.
File:Young peasant - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Young peasant.
File:Islander - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Islander.
File:Island girl - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Young woman from the Greek islands.
File:Young islander - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Young man from the Greek islands.
File:Woman contemplating - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Woman gazing at the horizon.
File:Woman from Attica - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Woman from Attica.
File:A newly-married woman from Attica - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Newly married woman from Attica.
File:Two dancing girls - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Women dancers.
File:Athens - Scene at a fountain in the town centre - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Scene at a fountain in the centre of Athens.
File:A Greek woman of Constantinople with washbowl and pitcher - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Greek woman from Istanbul with washbowl and pitcher.
File:Itinerant sherbet seller - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Itinerant sherbet seller.
File:Janissary - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Janissary.
File:Dervish - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Dervish.
File:Muezzin - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Muezin.
File:Tatar - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Τatar.
File:Turkish soldier - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Turkish soldier.
File:Itinerant Armenian barber - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Itinerant Armenian barber.
File:Men smoking in the shade of a trellis - Peytier Eugène - 1828-1836.jpg|Men smoking in the shade of a trellis.