Pierre Charles the Child (Paris, August 2nd 1754 - Prince George' S County (Maryland), June 14th 1825) is a Urbaniste. He works out the plans of the capital of the the United States of America, Federal City , now known under the name of Washington, cd..

Born in France, it unloads in the American colonies as military engineer with the General Lafayette and very quickly is identified in America, adopting the name of Peter. It is wounded with the Siège of Savannah in 1779 but recovers and is useful then under the command from the Washington General at the time of the war of American independence.

After the war, it acquires a certain fame like Architecte after having conceived the Federal Hall with New York. Little time afterwards, it takes part in a contest to build the Federal City on banks of the Potomac and gains it. The project is launched in 1791.

Because of its irascible character, the plans of the Child for the Federal City only are partially carried out during its life. The project is withdrawn to him and, by anger, it carries its plans with him. However, the latter are mainly reconstituted of memory by Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician working with the Andrew geometricians and Joseph Ellicott. Because of its reaction, it is never paid and fall in disgrace, passing most of the remainder of its life to be tried to obtain Congress the payment of its work. One offers a station of Professor off to him Engineering in West Point in 1812 but he refuses it. The Child dies in poverty and is buried in the farm of a friend with Prince George' S County (Maryland).

In 1901, the commission McMillan redécouvre its plans and uses them like hones angular of his report/ratio of 1902 to work out the National Evil of Washington. Its adoptive nation finally recognizing its genius, its skin is transferred to the cemetery from Arlington after it was exposed in the rotunda of the Capitole in 1909. Privilege reserved usually to the politicians and to soldiers, it is the first personality not forming part of the government to receive such a homage. It will be necessary to wait approximately a century to see one second anybody to receive this homage, at the time of the funeral of militant for the civic rights Rosa Parks in 2005.

See too