![CONGO BELGE - URANIUM] Edgar SENGIER - Biographical notes.
S.l., (1957). In-4, ring...](https://cdn.drouot.com/d/lot/phare/215/113225/4f46818c866e3fb9c9e54cb7ebd306d0)
![CONGO BELGE - URANIUM] Edgar SENGIER - Biographical notes.
S.l., (1957). In-4, ring...](https://cdn.drouot.com/d/lot/phare/215/113225/808e0ab07386606cca7d3b70aea465f5)
Lot n° 493
Estimation :
250 - 300
EUR
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Result
: 1 300EUR
- Lot 493
CONGO BELGE - URANIUM] Edgar SENGIER - Biographical notes.
S.l., (1957). In-4, ring binder. Tapuscript. 1], 97, [13], [54 (appendices)] leaves. DISPATCH FROM SENGIER TO PAUL GILLET. First leaf also signed by Edgar Sengier. Exceptional document left by this Belgian engineer (Courtrai, 1879 - Cannes, France, 1963), trained at the Catholic University of Louvain. It was a chance meeting with a former student, Firmin Van Brée, secretary of Jean Jadot (On-lez-Jemelle, 1862 - Brussels, 1932, who became Governor of the Société générale de Belgique in 1913), that determined Edgar Sengier's exceptional professional career. The UMHK (Union minière du Haut-Katanga) was founded in 1906. After a difficult start, Jean Jadot entrusted a mission to his brother Jules who hired Sengier as secretary. This mission was to play a key role, insofar as the conclusions of its report were to form the basis of the measures taken to revive the company and its takeover by the Belgians, with the establishment at its head of the Edgar Sengier -Jules Cousin tandem, which was to reign undivided for more than 40 years. Sengier moved to London during the First World War with the mission of supplying the Allies with all the copper production in Katanga; it was during this period that he also became acquainted with Herbert Hoover (West Branch, USA, 1874 - New York, USA, 1964, 31st President of the USA in 1929) and that he began to weave a network of relationships that gave him access to the highest spheres of power in the USA.In 1918, Sengier was sent to Africa and decided to launch the development of the radium deposits in Katanga. He placed Jules Cousin at the head of the company in Africa. Sengier devoted himself to the marketing and development of Katanga's mineral resources. In the 1930s, Sengier became involved in the cartelization of the world copper market. Following the death of Jean Jadot in 1932, Sengier became the director of the Société Générale. On the eve of the Second World War, plans were drawn up by Société Générale to prevent sensitive companies from being taken over by Germany. In October 1939, Sengier decided to move to New York to transfer the commercial and financial activities of UMHK and to supply the Allies with minerals from Katanga. In December 1938 in Berlin, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered the fission of uranium. Only two men were immediately aware of the significance of this discovery: Edgar Sengier and Boris Pregel (Odessa, USSR, 1893 - 1976). Before leaving for New York, Sengier had secretly organized the transport of 1,100 metric tons of uranium ore to New York, without informing any Belgian, American or UMHK leader. This is how Sengier became involved in the "Manhattan Project". In January 1942, Roosevelt ordered the construction of the atomic bomb, and in September of the same year, General Groves was placed in charge of the project. After a meeting with one of his emissaries, the stock of uranium stored in New York became the property of the United States, in strictest confidence until 1944. In 1949, a new ore was named "sengierite" in recognition of this. Sengier was also awarded the highest honours: Medal for Merit (USA); Knight Commander of the British Empire and Commander of the Legion of Honour. BN, 13, 304-309.JOINTS, CONCERNING PAUL GILLET:- Paul GILLET, Gouverneur de la Sté Générale de Belgique - Speech delivered on July 28, 1956, at the academic opening session of the jubilee celebrations of the 1906 Societies. 12 p. mimeographed - [Paul GILLET] - Civil mobilization booklet. The booklet is inserted in a cardboard folder containing various documents related to the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Bas-Congo au Katanga:- 5 typewritten pages detailing the Gillet Mission in charge of ensuring contact with the government, - letters of introduction for Paul Gillet to the Belgian Bank for Foreigners at its London and New York headquarters,- copy of the minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors held in the study of Maître Pierre Muylle on 20/4/1939- "Measures to be taken in the event that the security of the country would be endangered.» Typed document of 14 p. Société Générale de Belgique - Management meeting of November 28, 1950. Contains the speech of Paul GILLET, elected Governor of the Société Générale de Belgique. In duplicate.- Octave JADOT - Family of engineers. S.l.s.n. [1963]. This document was written in Brussels, on October 1, 1947; according to a handwritten annotation, it was printed in 1963. Paul Gillet (La Plata, Argentina, 1891 - Uccle, 1964), member of the "Jadot-Cousin" clan, he was the nephew of Jean Jadot. He studied engineering at the UCL. Like Sengier, he grew up in the
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