Since April 2019, General Jean-Louis Georgelin has been invested with a very important mission. Emmanuel Macron had entrusted him with the task of ensuring the progress of work to rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris, whose ceiling had been reduced to ashes after a devastating fire. He was also at the head of the public establishment responsible for the conservation and restoration of the cathedral. But it is unfortunately a project that he will not see in full. Friday August 18, 2023, the man who was approaching 75 years old, is died while hiking in the Ariège Pyrenees, indicates France InfoSaturday August 19, 2023. “The PGHM (gendarmerie platoon of Haute-Montagne) intervened on the slopes of Mont-Valier (…) and discovered the body of a man who was formally identified as General Georgelin”confirmed the parquet floor of Foix.
The political class is mobilizing
After the announcement of his death, many personalities paid tribute to the former chief of staff of the armies. “The Nation loses one of its great soldiers. France, one of its great servants. And Notre-Dame, the architect of its rebirth”wrote Emmanuel Macron, on X (formerly Twitter). Many personalities from the political class joined in this tribute. Roselyne Bachelot spoke about her “very great sadness“and Anne Hidalgo expressed her pain. “The disappearance of General Georgelin is a huge loss. I’m very sad about it. He was a man of authority, very respected”writing the mayor of Paris. Valérie Pécresse also wanted to pay tribute to the general: “France is losing a great servant of the State who devoted his life to the service of our armies and who had taken charge with passion and efficiency of the site of the reconstruction of Notre-Dame”, she explains, also on X. The old man would have gone alone for a hike, before making a significant fall at 2,650 meters above sea level. Around 9 p.m., not seeing General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the manager of the refuge in which the man was staying alerted the emergency services. The gendarmerie patrol sent to the scene took a short time before unfortunately finding her lifeless body. The representative of the Foix public prosecutor’s office specified to France Info that the accident track was privileged.