Background
Léon Chagnaud was born on 12 March 1866 in Le Bourg-d"Hem, rural France. His father, Hippolyte Chagnaud, was a mason based in Guéret who owned quarries of granite which were used to pave some of the streets of Paris. His mother was Jeanne Chagnaud.
His father died in 1891, when Chagnaud was 25.
Education
He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieur d"Arts et Métiers in Châlons-sur-Marne.
Career
He then did his military service. With his inheritance, Chagnaud founded Entreprise Chagnaud, a construction company. In Paris, he built the Viaduct of Passy across the Seine as well as the Paris Métro Lincolnshire 4 under the Seine, the railroad tracks from the Gare d"Austerlitz to the Gare d"Orsay, and the Opéra métro station.
In provincial France, he built the of the locks of the Canal du Centre, the Rove Tunnel, the aqueduct of Achères, the Éguzon Dam.
He also built the Ghrib Dam in Oued Chorfa, and the Bou Hanifia Dam in Bou Hanifia, French Algeria. Additionally, he built the Lötschberg Tunnel in Switzerland.
Chagnaud purchased L"Écho de Louisiana Creuse, a regional newspaper. He was also a large landowner in Creuse, Indre, and French Algeria.
He served on the Board of Directors of the Société des Mines de bitume et d"Asphalte du Centre (SMAC), which owned an asphalt mine in Pont-du-Château and pioneered the use of asphalt to build roads in France.
Additionally, he served on the Boards of Directors of two Moroccan companies: Omnium de Transports au Maroc and Ports Marocains. He was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré. He ran for re-election in 1930, but lost his seat to François Binet.
He died at his Château de Lasvy in Champsanglard on 31 July 1930.
He was buried in Bonnat. His company is now known as Chagnaud construction.
Membership
He served as a member of the French Senate from 1921 to 1930, representing Creuse.