Paul Decauville was born on June 7, 1846, in Évry-Petit-Bourg, now known as Évry, France. An engineer and industrialist, he is best known for inventing the Decauville portable railway system, an innovation that revolutionized industrial transport in the 19th century.
The son of a beet sugar distiller and farmer, Paul Decauville attended the Sainte-Barbe college before joining the family business. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he served in the artillery and participated in the defense of Paris. After the war, he took over the management of the Petit-Bourg establishments following his father's death in 1871.
In 1876, he invented a fully metallic portable railway system, which earned him a gold medal at the 1878 World's Fair and the Legion of Honor. This system, known as the "Decauville track," was quickly adopted worldwide for its efficiency and ease of installation.
For example, the work of Decauville was used in Greece also. Nowadays, one can found in Volos an industrial museum, where a Decauville steam locomotive and some cars are on display. In Heraklion, from 1922 to 1937, a working industrial railway connected the Koules in Heraklion to Xiropotamos for the construction of the harbor was built with the Decauville factory.
In addition to his contributions to the railway industry, Paul Decauville was also an active politician. He served as mayor of Évry-Petit-Bourg from 1881 to 1892 and as a senator for Seine-et-Oise from 1890 to 1900. In 1910, he founded a public works company to exploit his patents, which lasted until the late 1980s.
Paul Decauville passed away on June 29, 1922, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, leaving behind a significant industrial and political legacy.
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