Daily Almanac for
Sep 5, 2008
Search White Pages
Info search tips
Bio search tips

Encyclopedia

L'Enfant, Pierre Charles

L'Enfant, Pierre Charles (pyer shärl läNfäN') [key], 17541825, American soldier, engineer, and architect. Born in France, he volunteered as a private in the American Revolution. He won Gen. Washington's attention with his design for the insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati. L'Enfant had remodeled the New York City city hall to serve as a temporary seat of federal government when he was asked (1789) by Washington to submit plans for the capital city at Washington. His plans were presented in 1791, but he antagonized Congress and was opposed by Thomas Jefferson. In 1792 he was dismissed. He was offered in payment of his services 500 guineas and a lot in Washington, which he refused. In 1889, L'Enfant's plans were exhumed from the archives, and in 1901 the design of the capital was developed along the lines that he had laid down. L'Enfant's body was moved to the Arlington National Cemetery in 1909.

See biography by H. L. Caemmerer (1950).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

    • Cite
    • Print
    • Bookmark

More on Pierre Charles L'Enfant from Infoplease:

  • L'Enfant - L'Enfant: Definition and Pronunciation
  • L'Enfant: meaning and definitions - L'Enfant: Definition and Pronunciation
  • The White House - The White House The White House, the official residence of the president, is at 1600 Pennsylvania ...
  • The White House - The White House The White House, the official residence of the president, is at 1600 Pennsylvania ...
  • U.S. Capitol - U.S. Capitol When the French architect and engineer Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant first began to ...

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Architecture: Biographies


Premium Partner Content
HighBeam Research

Related content from HighBeam Research on: Pierre Charles L'Enfant

Baudelaire, el genio maldito. (Charles Pierre Baudelaire, poeta francés)(TT: Baudelaire, the wretched genius) (TA: Charles Pierre Baudelaire, French poet) (Contenido)

Pierre-François Chifflet, Charles Du Cange et les Bollandistes. Correspondance (The Catholic Historical Review)

Sweet talk: when it comes to luxury, these Pierre Herme pastries take the cake. Luxury marketer Charles Znaty talks about making this brand a household name.(IN ACTION)(Interview) (Communication World)

The adventures of Vallieres and Gagnon. (Front de Liberation Quebecois leaders Pierre Vallieres and Charles Gagnon)(includes related article on referendum of Parti Quebecois) (Canadian Dimension)

L'Enfant, Pierre-Charles: Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington D.C.(Brief article)(Book review) (Biography)

Berge takes over at Ritz; Miller is out. (Pierre Berge and Robert H. Miller, Charles of the Ritz) (WWD)

Five join European Hall of Fame.(European Automotive Hall of Fame)(Pierre Dreyfus, Carl Hahn, Nils Bohlin, Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce)(Brief Article) (Automotive News)

Paris collections: spring-summer '88. (menswear design by Comme des Garcons, Nino Cerruti, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Christian Aujard, Dominique Morlotti, Pierre Balmain, Patrick Lavoix, Marithe & Francois Girbaud, Lucien Foncel, Hermes, Adolfo Dominguez) (Daily News Record)

The Second World War.(Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership; The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany; The Origins of World War Two: The Debate Continues; An Eyewitness History of World War II; An Underworld at War: Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in the Second World War; The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation;Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong; The First Heroes; Dad's War; The Dambusters; A Rescuer's Story: Pastor Pierre-Charles Toureille in Vichy France; Nazis In Newark; Women in the Third Reich; Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda)(Book Review)(Brief Review) (History Today)

Apostasy Apostasized: the effects of censorship and self-censorship on Baudelaire's "Le Reniement de saint Pierre".(Charles Baudelaire) (Nineteenth-Century French Studies)

Additional search results provided by HighBeam Research, LLC. © Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.