Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre
 Workers in the company's Le Havre mills after World War II | |
| Industry | Copper |
|---|---|
| Founded | 7 July 1883 |
| Defunct | 1962 |
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | Tréfimétaux |
| Headquarters | Paris , France |
The Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH: Le Havre Wire-Drawing and Rolling Mills) was an industrial enterprise that maunfactured copper wire and other copper products.
Founder
The company was created by Lazare Weiller (1858–1928), who was born in the small town of Sélestat in Alsace on 20 July 1858. He studied in Angoulème and Paris, and then in Trinity College, Oxford. He returned to Angoulème to work in his cousin's factory, which produced metal sheets for use by the paper industry. He became interested in the problem of drawing copper wires, for which there was growing demand, adapted the process of hot rolling rods to make steel wire for use with copper and launched his own company in Angoulème to make copper wire in this way. He developed a bronze alloy that combined the conductivity of copper with the strength to remain stretched between poles 50 metres (160 ft) apart, of great value to telecommunications companies, and obtained several patents in France and other countries.[1]
In 1880 at the age of 22 Weiller created what would become the Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre. Weiller joined the board of the Société des téléphones, which was both a customer and an investor in his company. Weiller remained interested in research and explored transmission of images over electrical wires, colour photography and flying. He was elected a deputy in 1914, and held office through World War I, then was a senator from 1920 until his death in 1928.[1]
History
The Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre was incorporated on 7 July 1883.[2] It had its headquarters in Paris and came to have factories in Le Havre, Rugles, Saint-Maurice, Grenoble, Charleval, la Praz, Dijon, Montreuil-Belfroy, Darnétal, Saint-Denis, La Courneuve, Poissy and Pont-de-Chéruy.
From 1943 Henri Lafond was President of the Mines du Huaron and on the board of Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre.[3] In 1962 the company merged with the Compagnie française des métaux and became Tréfimétaux.[2] In 1962 Lafond joined the board of Tréfimétaux.[3] In 1967 Tréfimétaux was acquired by Pechiney and became the copper division of that group, contributing 8% of the group's total.[4]
Key people
Key people included:[2]
- Maurice Waldmann, Director of the Angoulême wire-drawing plant and then at Le Havre Director of the Cie Lazare Weiller, which became the Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre, 1893-1922
- Claudius Feyeux, Chief Maintenance Engineer at Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill 1898
- Albert Lefebvre, Engineer at Le Havre Wire Works and Rolling Mills 1913–1919
- Maurice Boutin
- Director of the Darnétal plant of the Le Havre drawing and rolling mill company 1924
- Director of the Pont-de-Chéruy factories of the Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1933
- Technical Director of the Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1945
- Director of the Le Havre Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1953
Notes
Sources
- Lange, A. (6 March 2003), "Lazare Weiller (1858-1928), Meteore de l'histoire de la television", Histoire de la télévision (in French), retrieved 2018-01-29
- L’Histoire de Tréfimétaux (in French), Tréfimétaux, retrieved 2018-01-29
- Mahl, R., "Henri LAFOND (1894–1963)", Annales des Mines (in French), retrieved 2017-09-27
- Hours, Bernard (ed.), "TLH (Tréfileries et laminoirs du Havre)", SYMOGIH.ORG (in French), Laboratoire de recherche historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA), retrieved 2018-01-29
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