Denaix

Maxime-Auguste Denaix (Paris, 1777 – 1844)

Son of the owner of the Café Valois at the Palais Royal, he was a pupil of the École centrale des travaux publics from 1794 to 1796 and then of the École des ponts et chaussées. Conscripted in September 1798, he served first in the sappers, then in March 1799 was employed as a draughtsman at the Bureau topographique of the Armée d’Italie, being promoted to second lieutenant in the geographical engineers on 23 September 1800. Promoted to lieutenant in 1801, to captain 2nd class in 1802, he constantly served under Brossier, who greatly appreciated him and entrusted him with geodetical tasks. He served in the Grande Armée in 1807, but was struck off the corps by War Minister Berthier for failing to arrive on time at the Imperial General Staff. He was admitted with his rank into the Italian topographer corps in 1808, promoted to captain 1st class in 1810 and to squadron chief in 1814. He went back to France at the Restoration, being confirmed as battalion chief in the new General Staff corps in 1818, serving as administrative section chief at the Depot. Examiner of the pupils of the new General Staff School in 1830, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1831. Knight of the Legion of Honour in January 1815, officer on 18 April 1834, knight of Saint-Louis in 1820, retired in 1837.
One of the founding members of the French Geographical Society in 1821, the first in the world, he sat on its central commission from 1827. He published on physical geography, linked to geology and hydrography, as well as human geography, with an extensive and analytical approach that was founded on the collection of materials and on statistics as the method of enquiring into the population and resources: Denaix, Maxime-Auguste. 1827. Essais de géographie méthodique et comparative. Paris: chez l’auteur, 2 vols.; Id., 1841. Géographie prototype de la France contenant des éléments d’analyse naturelle. Paris: Imprimerie Royale. He also published an unprecedented historical thematic atlas of Europe: Id. 1829. Atlas physique, politique et historique de l’Europe: Paris: chez A. J. Kilian (cf. SHD, 2Ye 1115, SHD, 3M 300, MSA, WO OR 96, Roux de Rochelle. 1844. Notice sur les travaux de feu M. Denaix, membre de la Commission centrale. Bulletin de la Société de géographie, 3ème série, II: 101-107).