Reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris: a senior official succeeds a deceased general
Senior civil servant Philippe Jost, right-hand man of General Jean-Louis Georgelin who died suddenly this summer, will succeed him to supervise the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris, the French presidency told AFP on Thursday.
General Georgelin, former chief of staff of the armed forces, was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in April 2019 to supervise the construction site, after the gigantic fire having destroyed a large part of the cathedral, a masterpiece of the Gothic art known throughout the world.
The general died accidentally on August 18 while hiking in the Pyrenees, a few days before his 75th birthday.
Philippe Jost, 63, from the Ecole Polytechnique, has spent his entire career in the defense sector. As deputy director, he has been acting head of the public establishment in charge of the site since the death of General Georgelin.
The Elysée, which confirms information from Le Figaro, therefore chooses continuity for the continuation of the project which should be completed at the end of 2024 to allow a 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 of Paris for this reopening.
Editorial staff with AFP
