Edgar William Brandt (1880 – 1960) was a French ironworker, prolific weapons designer and head of a company that designed 60mm, 81mm and 120mm mortars that were very widely copied throughout and subsequent to World War II. He also invented discarding-sabot artillery shells[1], and contributed substantially through his development of HEAT rifle grenades to the development of effective HEAT-warhead weapons for infantry anti-tank use.
In 1902, Brandt set up the business établissements Brandt, where he produced ironwork and light armaments; this was based at 76 rue Michel-Ange in Paris.
His company was nationalised in 1936, and subsequently it purchased several engineering companies including the société Mécanique Industrielle de Précision (MIP) at Tulle in 1938. The same year, Brandt opened a major facility at La Ferté-Saint-Aubin which became the company's headquarters.
In 1956 Hotchkiss et Cie merged with établissements Brandt to form the Hotchkiss-Brandt company, which ten years later merged with Thomson and became Thomson-Brandt Armements. After further evolutions, the company is now called TDA Armements SAS and is a part of the Thales Group.
Some of the products designed and built by Brandt's company and its successors include:
He also was a very fine artist. He made things out of metal like his very fine Firescreen he created for a fireplace. It has the principle of design of balance.