France - 1975 Prix Napoleon III Awarded
Offered is a highly unusual, and very impressive 81mm bronze medal, struck for the ‘Academie du Second Empire,’ and awarded to Alain Boumier (founder, director of the society (1975-80) in 1975. Boumier (1937-2009) was a civil engineer and urban planner of note across France, whose academic interest focused on the proposed reconstruction of Les Tuilleries in Paris.
The Academie was founded in 1969 as an intellectual non-profit to study and frame the French Second Empire, publishing a journal, and holding commemorative events and conferences several times a year. It was eventually merged in 2014 with another, similar society, ‘Les Amis de Napoleon III.’ It also issued (a tradition continued in the current society) the Emperor Napoleon III medal annually, for service to the society or accomplishments in academic pursuits relating to the Second Empire.
The medal itself depicts the splendid portrait of Emperor Napoleon III by J. C. Chaplain for the 1867 Exposition Univerelle, and is housed in its original Monnaie de Paris case. It appears to have been struck with original dies, and remains in fantastic condition. The fact that it is dated 1982 likely indicates that the award was originally presented without any medallic component, and that when such a practice was established, Mr. Boumier was presented with this example retroactively. A stunning piece.
Offered is a highly unusual, and very impressive 81mm bronze medal, struck for the ‘Academie du Second Empire,’ and awarded to Alain Boumier (founder, director of the society (1975-80) in 1975. Boumier (1937-2009) was a civil engineer and urban planner of note across France, whose academic interest focused on the proposed reconstruction of Les Tuilleries in Paris.
The Academie was founded in 1969 as an intellectual non-profit to study and frame the French Second Empire, publishing a journal, and holding commemorative events and conferences several times a year. It was eventually merged in 2014 with another, similar society, ‘Les Amis de Napoleon III.’ It also issued (a tradition continued in the current society) the Emperor Napoleon III medal annually, for service to the society or accomplishments in academic pursuits relating to the Second Empire.
The medal itself depicts the splendid portrait of Emperor Napoleon III by J. C. Chaplain for the 1867 Exposition Univerelle, and is housed in its original Monnaie de Paris case. It appears to have been struck with original dies, and remains in fantastic condition. The fact that it is dated 1982 likely indicates that the award was originally presented without any medallic component, and that when such a practice was established, Mr. Boumier was presented with this example retroactively. A stunning piece.
Offered is a highly unusual, and very impressive 81mm bronze medal, struck for the ‘Academie du Second Empire,’ and awarded to Alain Boumier (founder, director of the society (1975-80) in 1975. Boumier (1937-2009) was a civil engineer and urban planner of note across France, whose academic interest focused on the proposed reconstruction of Les Tuilleries in Paris.
The Academie was founded in 1969 as an intellectual non-profit to study and frame the French Second Empire, publishing a journal, and holding commemorative events and conferences several times a year. It was eventually merged in 2014 with another, similar society, ‘Les Amis de Napoleon III.’ It also issued (a tradition continued in the current society) the Emperor Napoleon III medal annually, for service to the society or accomplishments in academic pursuits relating to the Second Empire.
The medal itself depicts the splendid portrait of Emperor Napoleon III by J. C. Chaplain for the 1867 Exposition Univerelle, and is housed in its original Monnaie de Paris case. It appears to have been struck with original dies, and remains in fantastic condition. The fact that it is dated 1982 likely indicates that the award was originally presented without any medallic component, and that when such a practice was established, Mr. Boumier was presented with this example retroactively. A stunning piece.