Musée océanographique de Monaco
Building inaugurated from March 29 to April 1, 1910 on the Rock, work of the architect Paul Delefortrie, to house the institute founded by Prince Albert I in 1906.
The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is one of the most recognizable buildings in the Principality, clinging to the cliff of the Rock above the Mediterranean. Its inauguration, from March 29 to April 1, 1910**, is documented by the actions it gave rise to: the Journal de Monaco published the appointments to the Order of Saint-Charles made for the occasion, including those of foreign scholars who came to attend the ceremonies.
The architect
The building is the work of Paul Delefortrie, described in 1899 as “architect of the Museum” and congratulated as such at the inauguration in 1910; his obituary, October 11, 1910, designates him as General Inspector of Architectural Works of the Principality. He died a few months after the completion of his work.
A distinction that Memoria holds
The Oceanographic Institute was founded in 1906; the building was inaugurated in 1910. Confusing the two dates would lose four years from the history of an institution and four years from that of a building - this is exactly the confusion that this sheet avoids, and the reason why Memoria systematically separates the founding of an institution from the construction of its headquarters.
Why we archive it
The Oceanographic Museum is the monument through which Monaco became known in the scholarly world long before becoming a financial center. The 1910 decorations published in the Journal de Monaco measure the scope of the event: foreign professors are not decorated for the opening of an ordinary building.
The facts are paraphrased; only the source is cited. A correction, a missing date? Write to Memoria.