The figures of the colonial engineer at the end of the 19th century.

This paper purports to set out the rising figure of the colonial engineer a t the end of the 19th century in the light of his metropolitan civil counte rpart. How was shaped the professional field specific to this other protago nist of "modernity" ? On what set of values was this agent of transformatio n patterned ? What has been his contribution to a new technical culture ? T his article draws a parallel between the founding of the Societe Francaise des Ingenieurs Coloniaux (S.F.I.C.) and the Ecole speciale des Travaux Publ ics (E.S.T.P.). A few hundred members strong, by the turn of the century, t he S.F.I.C. strives to bring together the engineers whose objective was a c olonial career, offering them an identity bound by "tastes" and "work proce ss". The school proposes vocational training in building and public works a nd thus was in keeping with the movement of the second industrialization. I t proves to play a major role in the development of building industry in Fr ance. From its inception, the school directs its teaching towards colonial openings and a great number of its students will choose an overseas career. Though copied on the metropolitan engineer profile who then seeks to assert himself both as a technical executive and as a social leader, the image of the colonial engineer as a privileged agent of "development" stands out as a complex intermediary figure, combining the images of the "inventor" and that of a "men's leader" and ironing the keys for "colonial legitimacy".