Jean Henri Pierre Auguste Pauzié-Banne, Founder of the Military Academy in Greece

 

 

Jean Henri Pierre Auguste Pauzié-Banne, as his full name is, was an Artillery officer in France. He was a graduate of the Polytechnic School of Paris, who became later the commander of the Artillery Corps in Greece, and, above all, the founder and first commander of the Military Academy in Nafplio.

Pauzié-Banne was born in Montpellier, Hérault region, France, on June 2, 1792. His father was François Pauzié-Banne and his mother Diane Elisabeth Colondre. The yearbook of the students of the Polytechnic School, however, refers to him as an orphan and with residence address the address of his father-in-law in Paris (81 rue du Faubourg du Roule, Paris, Seine). His personal examination bulletin indicates that Pauzié entered the Polytechnic School ranking 83rd, on October 22, 1810, with registration number 2334, while he completed his studies, ranking 32^nd among the Artillery Officers, in January 1812, with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

In addition, the bulletin comprises a brief physical description of his shape and facial features: he had blond hair and eyebrows, a covered forehead, a long nose, blue eyes, medium mouth, round chin, full face and height 1 m. 69 cm.

After completing his education at the Polytechnic School, Pauzié continued his studies at the Metz Military School, and in 1813-1814 he served in the Army of Napoleon the Great. He took part in several battles and was wounded in two of them.

When Governor Kapodistrias asked for military advisers from the French Minister of Defense, Pauzié was serving in the Ministry of War. Further to a decision of the French government, he was assigned the duties of Kapodistrias’ military adviser. He arrived in Greece at the end of 1827 and took up his new duties on January 28, 1828. He joined the Greek army and reached the rank of Colonel.

Ioannis Kapodistrias wanted to establish an independent Artillery Corps (“Artillery Battalion”). Thus, at the end of June 1828, he commissioned the then Captain Pauzié, to study the formation and operation of an Artillery Academy. At the same time, he asked to submit to him an organization plan and a cost list of the expenditure required for the Academy. Pauzié underwent a full study of the theoretical and practical training of Artillery officers. The study proposed the number of students to range from twenty to twenty-five, and determined the duration of the education to two years.

Initially, the Artillery Battalion was established by decree issued on August 17, 1828, and two days later, the command of the battalion was assigned to the Colonel of the Artillery, Count Nikolaos Pierris. Two months later, Pauzié took command of the battalion, but for a while. Then Pierris took over again. The latter had submitted to the Governor in October 1828 a new “Draft Decree for the Academy of the Artillery Battalion”. This plan was finally implemented in the School from November 15, 1828 to January 12, 1829, when a part of the School was merged with the “Battalion of Cadets”. The School continued to operate until May 1829 as a school of military application entitled “School of the Artillery Battalion”, and provided technical and regular training to Artillery officers under Pierris’ command. The “Cadets Corps” was formed in July 1828 with the aim of training officers, but, despite high expectations, it failed to meet its goal, and the Governor ordered its dissolution and reorganization from zero.

In addition, on December 2, 1828, Pauzié, in consultation with the French Consul in Greece, Antoine Juchereau de Saint-Denys, submitted a proposal to the Governor for the establishment of a military polytechnic school in Nafplio. The Governor, although he considered the venture to be very ambitious, he gave his consent and named Pauzié “Superintendent”, i.e. Inspector of the “Battalion of Cadets” and of the Artillery School, in charge of the establishment of the Central War School. In fact, on December 28, 1828, Pauzié submitted a detailed draft law, entitled “Central War School,” a plan approved by the Governor under decree no. 8683 of January 12, 1829. Following this decree, the “Battalion of Cadets”, and in part the Artillery School, ceased to function and their students were absorbed by the above Central War School. Pauzié was named Commander of the War School, promoted from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel, on the grounds that, as reported in the General Gazette, he should have been promoted to a rank in line with his duties.

Capodistrias then asked Pauzié to find a suitable accommodation for the installation of the School in Nafplio.

As soon as the housing problem was solved, the unsuitable students were removed and the vacancies were filled by young people who came from the orphanage of Aegina, which hosted orphans of the fighters of the Revolution. The school was modeled on the Polytechnic School of Paris, which influenced many other European schools in the early 19th century, and Commander Pauzié was accountable to the Military Secretariat of the State.

During his tenure, Pauzié reformed the School from zero and increased the length of the studies. The training of the courses, which he had proposed, was registered in the statute of the School and provided for the operation of three educational classes.

The curriculum was based on the corresponding program of the French Polytechnic School, but was implemented at a lower level and was adapted to the Greek needs. Pauzié, in his attempt to create the War School, had many obstacles to face. One of them was the lack of Greek military textbooks. Most of the books were in French and needed to be translated, although the French language dominated the education of the Cadets.

The examinations of the first candidates took place before a committee chaired by General Trézel, leader of the Greek Regular Army, in October 1829 in the presence of the French Consul. The results of the examinations and the congratulatory speech of the Commander of the School, were published in the General Gazette of Greece, on November 23, 1829. In July 1831, the first students who had graduated were ready to join the army with the rank of Second Lieutenant. They received the epaulets of  non-commissioned officers from the Governor himself. The first graduates were only eight and all joined the Artillery.

In October 1830, the establishment of a “Council of Education and Discipline” was instituted, which consisted of seven members and was headed by the school’s director, following the standards of the “Perfection Council” of the Polytechnic School of Paris. In August 1831, after Pauzié’s departure, it was decided that the age of the candidates would range from 15 to 20 years. In general, from January 12, 1829 until 1834, the total number of candidates was 86.

Pauzié replaced Pierris in March 1829, and took again command of the Artillery Battalion, along with the command of the War School. He maintained these duties until his departure from Greece. Pauzié reorganized the battalion, which eventually included five artillery units. On December 4, 1829, the Corps celebrated for the first time, under the supervision of Pauzié, who had been promoted to Colonel, St. Barbara, the patron saint of artillery in Greece.

From this position, Pauzié also reorganized the Academy of the Artillery Battalion, which reopened from May 1830 to June 1831, with an enriched and revised program of training and internships.

According to Andreas Kastanis’ research, unfortunately, in December 1830, Pauzié came into conflict with the new leader of the Regular Army, Gerard, who had meanwhile replaced Trézel, for official reasons. This led Pauzié to resign on July 31. The Governor Capodistrias accepted his resignation on 12 August 1831. Subsequently, Pauzié left for France on 9 December 1831.

When he arrived in France, he was promoted to the rank of Major on December 31, 1835. The grades he had obtained in Greece did not apply in France. The official yearbooks of the French Army show him active in duty until 1847. In 1840 we meet him in Algeria and in 1847 as an Inspector of the powder magazine in Esquerdes. In addition, the few French reports confirm the Greek bibliography, according to which he died as a Major on February 9, 1848.

Pauzié was awarded the St. John’s Medal, the St. Louis Medal, and the Legion of Honor decoration on March 21, 1831, by the French state. In Greece he was honored with the gold medal of the Redeemer on May 20 / June 1, 1833.

The operation and training of the Academy of Guards was influenced by the French Philhellene Pauzié, and cadets still use many of the orders chosen by the founder of the School.

 

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