François Coulomb the Elder

François Coulomb the Elder was a French naval architect and builder of warships (ingénieur-constructeur), the son of Laurent Coulomb. François Coulomb was born on 24 January 1654 at La Ciotat, and died on 20 March 1717 at Toulon. He was first known on the archives under the name of "Coulomb fils" because he collaborated with his father, Laurent Coulomb, in constructing naval ships; then he became "François père" because his own son, also named François, worked in collaboration with him. In 1680, he occupied himself with the school of construction at Toulon, and wrote a manual of construction. He took the place of his father at Toulon, when the latter was named constructor at Lorient in 1690. In the course of his career he designed and built at Toulon 34 ships for the King of France, plus 2 ships for the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (the Knights of Malta).