Gadzarts

Gadz'Arts or Gadzarts is the nickname given to the students and the alumni of École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers (ENSAM)- a prestigious university (grande ecole) specialised in engineering.

Since the beginning of the institution, the students of the school perpetuate their own traditions and folklore, and organise themselves in a student society or union. They call themselves "Gadz'Arts", abbreviated from "Gars des Arts" ("Guys from the Arts", the school's nickname is the "Arts"). The "Gadz" folklore includes traditional clothing, slang, songs and legends, related symbolism, and ceremonials.

Gadz'Arts activities are independent of the administration of the school and are exclusively run by the students and alumni, although the two parts often cooperate for organising cultural or sporting events.

Traditions

The Gadz'Arts community is proud of its ancient traditions which are based on the values of mutual aid and fraternity as well as on the oral memory of numerous anecdotes and songs connected to the history of the school.

• In school, the pupils wear a lab coat (named a "Biaude" in Argad'z language). It is traditionally grey for the first and second year students - white ones are reserved for those in their last year of study. Gadz'Arts customize their coats individually. The coats of the first year students are generally rather sombre and plain; whilst those of the second and third year students often have elaborate coloured motifs and drawings.
• Gadz'Arts also possess a uniform (nicknamed a 'Zag' in Argad'z), a nod to their military past. It is navy blue in colour and very close to the uniform of the officers of French Marine.
• When they enter the school, the students are given nickname, called a "bucque", that they use afterward in their relations with the other students and alumni.
• Each student is the "ancient" of one student of the following class and the "parrain" (or godfather) of one student of the class coming 25 years after. This creates continuity, which is the root of long term relations that last long after the students have left the school. It is called a family.
• One redundant and certainly the most important of gadz imagery/symbol is the square:
  • It is one of the most important instruments for a mechanical engineer.
  • It is a symbol for probity, a motto of the school's founder Duke of Rochefoucauld-Liancourt:"Helping with all that is useful, attaching his name to all that is right".
  • It refers to the alleged historical link between the school and Compagnons du Tour de France.

Gadzarts slang

The Gadz'Arts use a special slang, called Argad'z which is actually a mix of French slang and military language, mixed with various local dialects.

In addition, words are often shortened and then get a final « s » or << z >> sound and are prefixed with the syllable « Za ». The vocabulary is varied among the different branches of the school.

The penmanship used is generally done so by hand in Gothic calligraphy-style letters for important occasions.

Motto

The Gadz'Arts' motto is Fraternity:

What are these signs for nobil'ty here for ?
Their false glares cannot dazzle us.
Here, powerful, disparity ceases,
Old privileges, thee must all perish.
Friends, let us taste this happiness we scorn,
As will know well that at the School of Arts,
"Fraternity", such remains our byword,
Such it remains for every true Gadz'Arts.

A few famous Gadzarts^[1]

« NH Prize » means that the person was awarded the Nessim Habif Prize

Armament industry

• Désiré Legat - Châlons, 1853 : Production of guns.
• Albert Oberhauser - Châlons, 1890 : Achieves the mass production of 100,000 rockets a day.
• Ingénieur Robin - Châlons, 1867 : creates the modern 75mm gun shell.

Automotive industry

• Émile Delahaye - Angers, 1859 : he is the first one to use pumps for water circulation;
• Charles Trépardoux - Angers, 1868 : first steam tricycle.
• Charles Brasier - Châlons, 1880 : car with stiff frame and effective shock absorbers
• Louis Delâge - Angers, 1890 : luxury cars maker
• Louis Coatalen - Cluny, 1895 : contributed to the famous "Liberty" engine that equipped the US Army trucks during World War I.
• Sébastien Iglesis - Aix, 1896 : (...)
• Henri Perrot - Châlons, 1899 : (...)

Aviation

• Alexandre Goupil - Angers, 1859 : first helix for airplanes
• Lucien Chauvière - Angers, 1891 : known for the designs of his helixes.
• Charles Cormont - Angers, 1895 : builds 40 dirigible balloons.
• Louis Béchereau - Angers, 1896 : first plane that reaches a 200 km/h speed. Creator of the famous World War I SPAD air fighter (Guynemer's « Vieux Charles »); 13,000 of which were built.
• Antoine Odier - Aix, 1909 : creates the « Odier Vendôme » biplane and constructs a twin-engined seaplane with ballcocks.
• René Couzinet - Angers, 1921 : builds his famous « Arc-en-Ciel » that flies Paris to Buenos-Aires in 2 days and 15 hours.
• Léon Lemartin - Aix-en-Provence, 1902, co-designer of the Gnome Omega rotary aero-engine, pioneer aviator for Bleriot, world record holder.
• Pierre Nadot - Paris, 1924 : first flight of the « Caravelle ».
• Georges Gutman - Cluny, 1943 : creator of the EROS oxygen mask for civil aviation; inventor of a pneumatic harness for the fast use of the mask in flight. NH prize.

Railway

• Jean Meyer - Châlons, 1823 : A variable relaxation system for steam engines
• Alexandre Desroches - Angers, 1829 : Railway in Russia
• Edmond Roy - Angers, 1837 : Railway of the Andes
• François Michel - Châlons, 1847 : Built the first sleepers, in Moscow, for the Saint Petersburg-Moscow line.
• Raymond Garde - Paris, 1939 : One of the fathers of the High Speed Train (TGV).

Printing Industry

• Charles Catala - Châlons, 1839 : Manufacture of straw paper mass.
• Joseph Heusse - Châlons, 1842 : enhancements of printing machines.
• Abel Boisseau - Angers, 1856 : With Marioni, he creates the rotary presses.
• Louis Moyroud - Cluny, 1933 : (NH Prize). With René Higonet, he invented the automatic photocomposition, in 1944. (...). Member of the American National Inventor Hall of Fame.

Navy

• Claude Goubet - Angers, 1843 : first French submarine
• Charles Marzari - Châlons, 1861 and Albert Dufont - Châlons, 1865 : navy turrets
• Joseph Barguillet - Angers, 1862 : the first of a long line of Arts & Métiers general mechanics engineer. Ranked as an Admiral.
• Jules Tessier - Angers, 1887 : warships, the Gerfaut, the Terrible, world speed records.

Mechanics - Electricity

• Henri Flaud - Angers 1830 : fire pumps.
• Émile Lecoq - Châlons, 1839 : a specialist of printing and numbering machines
• Lucien Arbel - Aix, 1843 : (...), metallurgy, machines
• Amédée Buquet - Angers 1846 : excavators for hard stones
• Ignace Schabaver - Châlons, 1850 : centrifugal pumps (see also. Le Rialet)
• Léandre Megy - Aix, 1851 : lifting and handling, brakes
• Émile Cail - Châlons, 1855 : founded the Fives-Lille company
• Eugène Daguin - Châlons, 1865 : the Daguin stamping machine
• René Guillery - Châlons, 1883 : production control machines
• Alphonse Pégard - Châlons, 1885 : production machines
• Claude Gambin - Châlons, 1900 : milling machines
• Henri Bruet - Lille, 1904 : Cazeneuve lathes
• Marius Lavet - Cluny, 1910 : NH Prize, electric and electronic clocks (quartz watches)
• Jean Dutheil - Aix, 1916 : NH Prize, advanced techniques for metal made buildings
• Pierre Bézier - Paris, 1927 : NH Prize, machine tools for mass production (robots), inventor of the Bézier curve.
• Raymond Pailloux - Châlons, 1927 : developed the integrated circuit technique
• Marcel Sédille - Paris, 1928 : gas and steam turbines
• Georges Henriot - Lille, 1938 : kinematics of the gears

Textile industry

• Frédéric Quinson - Aix, 1847 : invented a woolcombing machine for silk scrap

Public infrastructures industry

• Jean-Baptiste Monnier - Châlons, 1828 : first sugar plant in the Nile valley
• François Barbarin - Angers, 1844 : Bizerte and Tabarka harbours, Gaza phosphates.
• Henri Diedrich - Angers, 1844 : phosphates plant in Krourigba
• Dominique Berjeaut - Aix, 1844 : Danube navigation
• Amédée Buquet - Angers, 1846 : mechanical excavator for hard stone boring
• Alponse Pellerin - Châlons, 1849 et Louis Pellerin - Angers, 1875 : bridges, tunnels, deep water foundations
• Ernest Fouquet - Châlons, 1849 : Trotzki bridge on the Neva river in Petrograd
• Louis Bret - Angers, 1852 : viaducts in Cratellauk, Fiaccati, etc.
• Vincent Dauzats - Angers, 1856 : Suez, Panama and Corinth canals.
• Félix Faraud - Aix, 1862 : close counselor of the Cambodia king, discovers many Khmer people monuments.
• Alfred Letort - Châlons, 1868 : sugar plants, refineries in Egypte
• Ernest Laigle - Châlons, 1871 : Mexico city city, Vera-Cruz bridge.
• Louis Viriot - Châlons, 1872 : Tunis, Sousse and Sfax harbours.
• Léon Chagnaud - Châlons, 1881 : subway under the Seine river, Rove tunnel, Eguzon stopping, Donzère-Mondragon plant.
• Charles Vieille - Châlons, 1912 : Water stopping on the Niger river in Sansanding
• Nicolas Esquillan - Châlons, 1919 : NH Prize, arch of the CNIT building, Tancarville Bridge, reinforced concrete in thin shells.
• Jean Roret - Paris, 1942 : Saint-Nazaire, Nantes, Rouen and Sèvres bridges, Eiffel tower handing-over to the standards, building of the Maine-Montparnasse tower, etc.
• Henri Delauze - Aix, 1946 : NH Prize, very deep sea diving, founder and CEO of the Comex company.

Miscellaneous (sorted by center of origin)

Aix-en-Provence

• Henri Jus - Aix, 1847 : geologist, master in the art of probing the ground, he dedicates 44 years of his life to transforming the Sahara desert. Doing this, he saves the Oued Rihr oasis and creates aroung 500 water sources, yelding a total of 250 000 m3/min. Creator of many oasises, he is named « ßou el Ma » (the father of water) by the saharian people.
• Henri Verneuil - Aix, 1940 : NH Prize, French famous film maker.

Angers

• Jacques Bonsergent - Angers, 1930 : November 10, 1940, he is accidentally involved in a scuffle with German soldiers. Arrested by mistake, he refuses to denounce his companions and thus assumes alone the responsibility of an action he did not perform. Sentenced to death by a German military tribunal, he will have the unhappy privilege to be the first shot person in Paris, on December 23, 1940. He was 28 years old. His name was given to a subway station in Paris, in 1946.

Châlons-en-Champagne

• Eugène Houdry - Châlons, 1908 : he dedicated his life to the development of oil processing techniques. He invented several new processes and created 14 big Catalytic cracking units. He files more than 600 patents. Thanks to the higher energetic power of his gasoline, allied war planes proved superior to their opponents during world war two.

Cluny

• Pierre Angénieux - Cluny, 1925 : NH Prize, Hifh quality camera and cinema lenses. Built cameras for space flights. Was awarded the Gordon E. Sawyer Award.

(...)

Classes

School classes are named after:

• The ENSAM center it originates from;
• The last two digits of the year of admission.

For instance, students who entered the school in 1997, in Cluny are member of the Cluny 1997 or Cl 197 class. 197 is used instead of 97 to disambiguate from the 1897 class.

There have not been any classes from the Paris centre since the late 1940s.

Classes usually create an association to organise the students when they leave school. Some classes also choose an association name that differs from their usual designation.

Finally, all the classes of the same year, in all centres, are given a unique name by the Alumni Society. For instance, the 1982 classes have been given the name "Louis Delâge".

References

External links

• Gadzarts Web portal (in French)
• Gadzarts Heritage (in French)
• Gadzarts Traditions Overview of the Traditions of the Gadzarts since the origins of the school (in French).
• Historic Society of the Arts & Métiers in Cluny Presentation of the museum of the school in Cluny (in French).