Échirolles

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Coordinates: 45°08′37″N 5°43′06″E / 45.14361, 5.7183

Administration
Commune of Échirolles
Location

Country	France
Region	Rhône-Alpes
Department	Isère
Arrondissement	Grenoble
Canton	Chief town of 2 cantons: Échirolles-Est Échirolles-Ouest
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération Grenoble Alpes Métropole
Mayor	Renzo Sulli (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	217–395 (avg. 237)
Land area^¹	8 km²
Population^² (2005)	35,300
- Density	4,491/km² (2005)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	38151/ 38130
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Échirolles is a commune in the département of Isère and the Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, and is adjacent to it on the south. In the 1999 census, Échirolles had a population of 32,806. Its inhabitants are called the Échirollois (feminine : Échirolloise(s)). The commune has a land area of 7.86 km² (3.035 sq mi).

1 History
2 Famous Échirollois
3 Twin towns
4 External links

[edit] History

Échirolles' Hôtel de ville (town hall) with Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People reproduced on its façade, taken in 2007

Former industrial village, the majority of its inhabitants worked in the viscose factories, a fabric which was invented in Échirolles in 1884 by French scientist and industrial Hilaire de Chardonnet ((1838-1924), inventor of the first artificial textile fiber), before becoming universally famous. The process for manufacturing viscose was then patented by three British scientists, Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle, in 1891.

[edit] Famous Échirollois

Vincent Clerc (b. 1981), rugby footballer of Stade Toulousain and of the French national team.
Mélissa Theuriau (b. 1978), journalist.
Calogero (b. 1971), pop/rock singer, composer and song-writer.
Laure Péquegnot (b. 1975), skier.
Gérald Hustache-Mathieu (b. 1968), film director and scenarist.
David di Tommaso (b. October 6, 1979 - † November 29, 2005 in De Meern, Holland) , football player.
Sami Bouajila (b. 1966), actor.
Guilbaut Colas (b. June 18, 1983), freestyle skier.