Frederic Arthur Chassériau

The Baron Charles-Frederic Chassériau (1802 - 1896) was the Architecte as a chief of the towns of Marseilles, Constantine and Algiers. He was first cousin of the painter Theodore Chassériau.

Received in Saint-Cyr military school, Frederic Chassériau was not able to follow the courses of the School, his family ruined by the revolt of Santo Domingo, not having enough resources to pay his pension. He entered initially in a notary, then decided to be made architect, began in the agency from Refined, inspector of the civil buildings, who made it collaborate in his work construction of the Court of Auditors that twenty years his/her Theodore cousin was to decorate later.

Raise of Mesnager, it was accepted in 1824 raise-holder of the School of Beautiful arts. Begun again, in 1830, by its military inclinations, it made countryside in the Spanish republican army like aide-de-camp of the Quiroga general.

He travelled then in Egypt, was architect of the Lazaret of Alexandria and drew up the plans of the " house consulaire" of Alexandria on the request of the vice-consul Ferdinand de Lesseps, then returned to France.

It became, in 1833, assistant architect of the town of Marseilles, built the hospital of the lunatics there, the market of the Capuchins, the hangars of the Friuli.

In 1830, it voluntarily went to make the shot in Spain, then, by Egypt, in Alexandria, (where there remained three years), he gained Marseilles (1836).

It is in Marseilles that was exerted and confirmed, of 1833 to 1839, its vocation and its talent of architect.

He was there initially architect-assistant, then architect as a chief of Public works. The Files of the commune of Marseilles preserve documents having milked at the Marseilles achievements of Chassériau. It is about:

the construction of the Market of the capuchins: repair and modifications period Year X-1850.
the construction of the asylum of the lunatics and repair work, period 1830-1860.

Frederic was thus made definitively architect.

He had to supervise for his beginnings the construction of the Court of Auditors which was to decorate twenty years later, its Theodore nephew. It is him which completed the small white Triumphal arch, around there is a carousel of cars today, with the threshold of the road which leads to Aix.

But it is in Algiers that it will leave the best of its work. He was the originator of the approach ramps and the boulevards of the sea fronts of Algiers, (counterpart of the Rue of Rivoli in Paris)

He carried out great work of the port, the boulevard of the Impératrice Eugenie, and was the author of the municipal theater of Algiers completed in 1853 in collaboration with Sorlin and Poussard. It is him still which carried out the installation of the accesses and the buttresses of the port realized between 1860 and 1865.

Frederic Chassériau published in 1858 the Study for the preliminary draft of a City Napoleon-City aiming at establishing on the beach of Mustapha to Algiers a resolutely modern city: “For us, it is necessary air, sun, planted boulevards of trees and streets with covered galleries for us”…

He died in 1896 in Var (Isere).

Portrait by Theodore Chassériau of the Baroness Frederic Chassériau (wife of the Frederic architect) preserved at Chicago Institute off Article.

It had 2 children:

Baron Arthur Chassériau, stockbroker and collector (donation Chassériau 1934 Museum of Louvre)
Claire Chassériau, wife Jean-Baptiste Nouvion, prefect under Napoleon III

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