Philippe Jost, senior civil servant and right-hand man of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who suddenly disappeared in the mountains this summer and who was responsible for supervising the Notre-Dame reconstruction project, succeeds him, the Elysée said on Thursday, confirming information from the Figaro.
General Georgelin, former chief of staff of the armed forces, was appointed by President Macron in April 2019 to supervise the construction site, after the gigantic fire having destroyed a large part of the cathedral, a masterpiece of art. Gothic known throughout the world. General Georgelin died accidentally on August 18 in Ariège while hiking in the Pyrenees, a few days before his 75th birthday. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame had been orphaned for almost three weeks by the “master builder of its rebirth”.
A continuity
Philippe Jost, 63, a polytechnician by training, has spent his entire career in the defense sector. As deputy director, he had acted as interim head of the public establishment in charge of the site since the death of General Georgelin.
The Elysée therefore chooses continuity for the continuation of the project which should be completed at the end of 2024 to allow the reopening of the cathedral at the beginning of December of the same year. The date of December 8 had been put forward by General Georgelin himself as well as by the diocese for this reopening.