< FR >
"Les Jardins Saint-Martin possèdent une sculpture en bronze du Prince Albert 1er, à la barre, face au large, d’une éblouissante vérité.
- 1951. Œuvre réalisée par le sculpteur François Cogné, membre de l’Institut de France.
- 1951. 11 avril. Le Prince Rainier III inaugure la statue lors de la fête nationale. C’est l’année suivante que la Fête Nationale est déplacée au 19 novembre.
- Le même jour, l’Imprimerie Nationale de Monaco fait paraître la 4ème dédition de « La Carrière d’un navigateur« , livre de souvenirs dans lequel le prince raconte ses expériences de marin et de scientifique. L’ouvrage est illustré par le peintre et graveur monégasque d’origine catalane Luis V. Molné.
- La statue occupe un point dénommé « Le Rondeau », sorte de belvédère surplombant la falaise."
Source et informations complémentaires:
www.provence7.com/portails/nature/parcs-et-jardins-en-provence/jardins-saint-martin-a-monaco/
Albert Ier (Prince de Monaco)
"Albert Ier de Monaco, surnommé « le Prince savant » ou « le Prince navigateur » (Paris, 13 novembre 1848 – id., 26 juin 1922), fut prince souverain de la principauté de Monaco du 10 septembre 1889 au 26 juin 1922.
De 1865 à 1868, il effectue son service militaire dans la marine de guerre espagnole. Deux ans plus tard, il prend part à la guerre franco-prussienne de 1870 comme lieutenant de vaisseau dans la marine de guerre française. Il est décoré de la Légion d'honneur.
En 1870, il est âgé de 22 ans lorsqu'il se passionne pour l'exploration océanographique. Il organise de nombreuses expéditions scientifiques océanographiques et cartographiques, accompagné par de nombreux scientifiques dans des navires construits et entièrement dédiés à cette recherche (l’Hirondelle, la Princesse Alice équipés de laboratoires avec des tables anti-roulis). Il découvre à cette occasion de nouvelles espèces, dont le poisson de grande profondeur Grimuldichtys profondissimus nommé ainsi en hommage aux Grimaldi. Il fait construire en 1906 l'Institut océanographique de Paris, à côté de l'Institut de géographie, rue Saint-Jacques.
En 1889, il fonde l'Institut océanographique de Monaco et fait construire le Musée océanographique de Monaco entièrement consacré à la mer, avec musée, laboratoires, collections de pièces rapportées de ses explorations, aquariums de faune et de flore des fonds sous marin de la Méditerranée, librairie scientifique, archives…
Il participe entre autres, à l'exploration du Svalbard dont il rédige une cartographie très précise au début des années 1900. Certaines de ces cartes sont encore utilisées à défaut d'en avoir édité de plus récentes."
Source et informations complémentaires: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ier_(prince_de_Monaco)
< EN >
"The St. Martin Gardens have a bronze sculpture of Prince Albert I, at the helm, facing the sea, of a dazzling truth.
- 1951. Work by sculptor François Cogné, member of the Institut de France.
- 1951. April 11. The Prince Rainier III inaugurated the statue during the national holiday. It was the following year that the National Day is moved to 19 November.
- The same day, the Imprimerie Nationale de Monaco published the 4th edition of 'La Carrière d’un navigateur' (The Career of a Navigator), a book of memories in which the prince recounts his experiences as a sailor and scientist. The book is illustrated by the Monegasque painter and engraver of Catalan origin Luis V. Molné.
- The statue occupies a point called 'Le Rondeau', a kind of belvedere overlooking the cliff."
Source and further information:
www.provence7.com/portails/nature/parcs-et-jardins-en-provence/jardins-saint-martin-a-monaco/
Albert I, Prince of Monaco
"Albert I (13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 10 September 1889 until his death.
As a young man, Prince Albert served in the Spanish Navy, during the Franco-Prussian War, he joined the French Navy where he was awarded the Legion of Honor.
Prince Albert I of Monaco devoted much of his life to the study of the sea and oceans. At only 22 years old, he embarked on a career in the then relatively new science of oceanography. Understanding the importance of the relationship between living creatures and their environment, he devised a number of techniques and instruments for measurement and exploration. Albert I was also the “instigator and promulgator” of the oceanographic science he contributed to create. He founded the Oceanographic Institute Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco is a private foundation recognized of public utility, established in 1906. It has two buildings: The Oceanographic Institute of Paris, now renamed Ocean House, and what became the world-renowned Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. This includes an aquarium, a museum, and a library, with research facilities in Paris.
He owned four, increasingly impressive research yachts, Hirondelle, Princesse Alice, Princesse Alice II and Hirondelle II. Accompanied by some of the world's leading marine scientists, he travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean, making numerous oceanographic studies, maps and charts. In 1896, on an oceanographic survey of the Azores, he discovered the Princess Alice Bank.
From an early age, Prince Albert I of Monaco evidenced a strong fascination for the polar regions. In the years 1898-1907 he made four scientific cruises to Svalbard on his yacht Princesse Alice. His efforts are honored by the later naming of Albert I Land on Spitsbergen.
The first cruise in the summer of 1898 was an oceanographical and zoological reconnaissance, aimed mainly at adding to the collections of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, for which the construction had just started.
On the second expedition, in 1899, the focus was on the hydrography and topography of Raudfjorden, on the north-western tip of Spitsbergen, of which a map was published. His efforts are acknowledged by the later naming of Albert I Land, which comprises the part of Spitsbergen west of Raudfjorden.
The third trip, in 1906, meteorology was added to the range of observations and surveys were pursued. The Prince also provided support for two other expeditions, that of the Scotsman, William Bruce, to Prins Karls Forland, and that of the Norwegian, Gunnar Isachsen, to northwestern Spitsbergen. His funding of the latter lead to regular Norwegian scientific expeditions on Svalbard, and in 1928 the foundation of the Norwegian Polar Institute.
The Prince's fourth expedition in 1907, was aimed at completing the results from the previous summer. Prince Albert also lent his support, either financially, or through gifts or loans of oceanographic instruments, to numerous Arctic and Antarctic explorers. Finally, he showed a keen interest in environmental protection, especially in Svalbard. This is demonstrated by his responses to a questionnaire that Hugo Conwentz, a German botanist sent him in 1912.
In 1918, the US National Academy of Sciences awarded Prince Albert its Alexander Agassiz Medal for his achievements. The Explorers Club elected Albert I to its highest category of membership — Honorary Member — in 1921. He was also awarded the Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society. Prince Rainier of Monaco and the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans established the Prince Albert I Medal in the physical and chemical sciences of the oceans in his honor."
Source and further information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_I,_Prince_of_Monaco